ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF THE USE OF BIOMASS MIXED CHLORELLA SP. BASE AS PROTEIN IN LIQUID FEED FOR PIGS FATTEN

Abstract

The economic evaluation of the use of the potentialities of a mixed biomass of microorganisms is carried out, as substitute of the soya flour in the feeding of pigs. This biomass is obtained from a mixed cultivation of the microalga Chlorella sp. and a consortium of heterotrophic microorganisms that have as a culture medium the swinish waste water as organic and nutritious source. The facilities that are used for this purpose are outdoor thin layer cultivators. The analysis allows to demonstrate the feasibility of diminishing the energy consumption and the initial investment in the outdoor thin layer cultivators up to 32.92 USD/m2, using the technology of the kneeling concrete for the construction of the facilities. As the cultivation area increases the cost of production of the ton of biomass diminishes, being of 176 USD/m2 for an area of 98 560 m2. If the price of the biomass is considered similar to that of the soya (250 USD/t), product that is sought to substitute in the diet of the pigs, and we also keep in mind the benefit from the treatment to the residual and the possibility of using the efluent of these cultivations like fertilizer, the gain that is obtained is of 87 036 USD/year and the time of paying-off is of 35 year-old investment. The results demonstrate that under the
current Cuban economic conditions it is not feasible to use the mixed biomass of microalgae as a substitute of 10 % of the nutritional source’s proteic fraction that it is used in the swinish feeding.