Tables of nutritive value for farm animals in tropical and Mediterranean regions: an important asset for improving the use of local feed resources

of the plant and treatment. Samples submitted to the laboratory are often poorly identified with approximately 50% of the database entries having little description beyond the category. This is particularly the case for the pasture species. Information is usually lacking on stage of growth and how the sample might represent either the pasture on offer or that selected by the animal and hence inclusion of these pasture samples might be considered inappropriate.