1: Challenges in the 21st century in pig and poultry nutrition and the future of animal nutrition

Abstract

To meet the challenges in the 21st century in pig and poultry nutrition, it is necessary to involve into the innovation activities besides classical animal nutrition knowledge, newer areas of natural and technical sciences (e.g. molecular biology, molecular nutrition, molecular genetics, nutrigenomics, information technology, etc.). The importance of these disciplines will continue to grow in the near future, in the following 5-10 years. Animal nutrition will need to increasingly focus on the production of safe and nutritious foods in a traceable manner produced within systems that care for the environment and animal welfare using ingredients not suitable for human consumption. The use of precision animal nutrition in practice greatly contributes to the changes required for the successful production of animal derived foods in the 21st century, as well as for the success of innovation activities. In order for the animal agricultural sector to be able to provide proper quantities of safe animal origin food materials to the food industry, there is a rapidly increasing need for better cooperation between medical and agricultural sciences on the basis of professional logic, as well as cooperation in R&DI programs and education. It is highly probable that new areas of science will revolutionise animal nutrition sciences such as bioinformatics, molecular biology, molecular nutrition, as well as quantum biology. These areas of science will greatly contribute to the development of animal nutrition science and, as a result, to a more efficient animal nutrition, as well as to a better quality and safe food base material production of animal origin.