Project number: 2020-1.1.2-PIACI-KFI-2021-00202
The project will be implemented in consortium cooperation with the help of the following partners:
- DR. BATA ZRT.
- University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest
Grant amount: 729.449.317 HUF
Total project cost: 1.027.945.552 HUF
Start of project implementation: 01.08.2021.
The planned deadline for the physical completion of the project: 31.07.2025.
The University of Veterinary Medicine, along with Dr. BATA Zrt., participates as a consortium partner in the implementation of the project.
The professional leader of the Project at the University of Veterinary Medicine: Dr. László Ózsvári, vice rector of education, head of department, associate professor.
Our participating organizational units:
1) Department of Forensic Veterinary Medicine and Economics (coordinator),
2) Department of Animal Hygiene, Animal Health and Mobile Clinic,
3) Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology,
4) Department of Epidemiology and Microbiology,
5) Department of Parasitology and Zoology,
6) Department of Pathology.
DETAILED CONTENT SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT
Poultry meat accounts for almost 37% of meat production for human consumption, which is projected to grow the most amongst animal protein sources.
In large-scale poultry farming, the deficiencies of animal hygiene conditions and the profit-oriented development of feed formulations often modify the normal microbiome composition of poultry gut and shift it in the direction of the pathobiome. This affects production parameters and meat quality, causing damage to both producers and consumers. Therapeutic antibiotics are used to treat the problem, as a result of which most antibiotics are used in poultry farming in Hungary. There are alternative solutions; prebiotics, probiotics, or a combination of these (synbiotics), but the real breakthrough solution is yet to come.
The aim of the project is to develop a complex feed additive that can specifically address the complex pathobiome that occurs during poultry fattening by promoting the proliferation of the normal microbiome and thus be a real alternative to pharmacological treatments. The detailed mapping of the problem is carried out by the University of Veterinary Medicine, which maintains close contact with Hungarian farmers, and uses the latest laboratory methods to survey and isolate the constituents of the normal microbiome and of the pathobiome. Recent results from pigs showed that a number of herbs and metal chelates synergistically and selectively promote the growth of normal microbiome while maintaining normal pathobiome levels.
Thus, the aim of the present project is to extend this research to the poultry sector. The application of the product will improve the growth indicators through keeping the flock healthier. The accumulation of pathobiome results in an increase in the frequency of enteric disease in animals and a decrease in productivity.
In addition, it is an important goal to provide a new solution for producers to replace antibiotics and antiprotozoals and reduce their use. Natural feed for farm animals contributes to the production of healthy food products, food safety and sustainability. Drug residues that can be traced back to the uncontrolled use of medicines have a direct and indirect effect on human health, so the project is also of public health significance.
After the successful prototype development, Dr. Bata Ltd. intends to introduce the product first in Hungary, and then plans to sell it globally it through its distribution network in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
