National Chiayi University (NCYU) and the Taiwan Livestock Research Institute (TLRI), Ministry of Agriculture, have long maintained a close partnership and officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 28th, 2022. Under the joint leadership of NCYU President Han-Chien Lin and TLRI Director General Jeng-Fang Huang, Ph.D., the two institutions launched the “Sustainable Innovation Joint Research Program” in 2024, integrating academic research with practical application resources to complement each other’s research capabilities. This long-term initiative has begun to yield tangible results. On the 30th, NCYU held a presentation in the audiovisual classroom of the Department of Animal Science. The event unveiled a revolutionary feed additive technology with strong commercialization potential, marking a significant step forward in the sustainable development of Taiwan’s livestock industry.
President Han-Chien Lin stated that NCYU and TLRI are both key institutions driving the development of agricultural science and technology in Taiwan. Through the “Sustainable Innovation Joint Research Program,” the partnership has successfully integrated NCYU’s expertise in microbial fermentation with TLRI’s extensive practical experience in animal nutrition. The results were jointly produced by the team led by Prof. Chen Kuo-Long of the Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture at NCYU, and the team led by Researcher Chin-Bin Hsu of TLRI. This collaboration highlights the synergistic benefits of cross-disciplinary integration and offers concrete solutions to key challenges in the livestock industry.
TLRI Director General Jeng-Fang Huang, Ph.D., stated that the results stem from the long-term dedication of Prof. Chen Kuo-Long’s team at NCYU to microbial fermentation and feed innovation. The technology was further validated by TLRI through systematic animal trials, confirming its feasibility and effectiveness in real-world production settings. The study covered a range of livestock, including sows, finishing pigs, laying hens, broilers, and suckling lambs. The results showed that the fermented products improve animal health and production performance, demonstrating strong potential to replace antibiotic growth promoters and for commercialization.
The core of the technology lies in the application of microbial fermentation to address environmental challenges and significantly reduce feeding costs. The three key technical highlights are as follows: (1) value-added utilization of feathers and meat-and-bone meal: By integrating chemical and physical processing with fermentation using self-selected probiotic strains, the team successfully converted feathers and meat-and-bone meal, which are traditionally difficult for monogastric animals to digest, into highly digestible, high-quality protein. The process achieved a 63% feather degradation rate within one day, the highest reported in the literature to date. Trials have confirmed that this product significantly promotes growth in pigs, chickens, geese, and lambs. It can fully replace expensive imported fish meal, thereby substantially improving production performance and economic efficiency. (2) Replacement of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) and high-quality fish meal: Using specially selected microbial strains and agricultural by-products, the process can produce up to 3% of the antimicrobial lipopeptide surfactin within one day. It inhibits Salmonella and Escherichia coli while regulating intestinal physiology, making it a natural alternative to traditional AGPs and high-quality fish meal. (3) Application of plant-based, antibiotic-free feed: Domestic agricultural by-products, particularly fibrous feed materials such as soybean hulls, wheat bran, spent mushroom substrate, and Bidens pilosa L. var. radiata, together with soybean meal, are used as substrates in a microbial fermentation process to produce plant-based feed materials. The resulting formulations enable fully plant-based and antibiotic-free feed for broilers and native chickens (Wenchang chickens) throughout the production cycle. This approach delivers superior production performance and economic efficiency compared to conventional commercial feeds. The team has successfully developed a fully plant-based, antibiotic-free feed formulation for poultry, enabling consumers to enjoy safer livestock products while supporting local production, energy conservation, carbon reduction, and sustainable agriculture.
All three technologies have been validated for mass production, with their technical maturity and innovation widely recognized by both academia and industry, as well as by national-level awards. To date, the project has won the 2024 National Innovation Award, the 2025 National Innovation and Advancement Award, the runner-up in the 2024 "Shine Bright" Agricultural Biotechnology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and third place in the 2025 edition of the same competition. Notably, under the theme of “Reducing Carbon Footprint,” the technology received the 2025 Future Tech Award from the National Science and Technology Council. It was the only award in the agricultural category, underscoring its leading position in technological innovation and commercialization potential.
Photo 1: NCYU and
TLRI present a revolutionary feed additive technology with commercialization
potential.
Photo 2: Prof. Chen
Kuo-Long from the Department of Animal Science, NCYU, explains the three key
highlights of the presentation.
Photo 3: Associate Prof. Chia-Wen Hsieh from the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biopharmaceuticals, NCYU, explains the research findings on antimicrobial lipopeptide surfactin.