Rice is a staple cereal consumed by much of the world’s population but has received relatively little attention as a potential feed stuff for the animal industries in many parts of the world. It may be because its price is relatively high and only a small amount of rice produced is traded (). India, Thailand and Vietnam play a major role in the world rice export market. | 10 Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City Efficacy of white rice-based diets in nursery pigs Che Minh Tung and Nguyen Thi My Nhan Department of Animal Production, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam ARTICLE INFO Review Paper Recieved: March 24, 2018 Accepted: May 31, 2018 Keywords Cereals and rice Digestibility Growth performance Health Nursery pigs Corresponding author Che Minh Tung Email: ABSTRACT Rice is a staple cereal consumed by much of the world’s population but has received relatively little attention as a potential feedstuff for the animal industries in many parts of the world. It may be because its price is relatively high and only a small amount of rice produced is traded (). India, Thailand and Vietnam play a major role in the world rice export market. Rice is characterized by its high starch content, low fat and dietary fiber content, and lower crude protein content in comparison to other cereals. Rice-based diets have a higher apparent digestibility of nutrients than corn-based diets. Complete replacement of corn with rice in weaned pig diets does not affect growth performance, but feed efficiency is improved when corn is replaced with brown rice. Heat processing of rice does not influence digestibility and growth performance of pigs. Due to rice’s high digestibility and low fiber content, pigs fed rice-based diets have lower concentrations of volatile fatty acids and viscosity of intestinal digesta compared to other cereal-based diets. Moreover, rice has been shown to have potential to ameliorate diarrhea, colonization of pathogens, severity of enteric bacterial diseases, and pig removals. The mechanism for this protective function is not fully understood, but it may be, to a certain extent, related to lower fiber content and high digestibility of rice and a so-called “rice factor”. In practice, when availability and cost of rice permits, pork producers can benefit from the use of rice-based diets for
