August 15, 2006

China's Sunrise Biotech begins commercial production of mulberry leaf feed products

Through the adoption of advanced production technology and after years of scientific research, Beijing Sunrise Biotech Co Ltd has successfully realised the commercial production of mulberry leaf feed products in China.

The company has invested RMB12 million in a 10,000 tonne/year (daily capacity of 30-35 tonnes) mulberry leaf feed production plant, the first of its kind in the country.

Mulberry leaves have traditionally been used in the concoction of Chinese herbal medicines.  In the early twentieth century, extensive research into using mulberry leaves as feed was carried out by researchers in India and Japan.

In particular, Japanese researchers in Yamanashi Prefectural Experimenting Station had demonstrated improved egg quality through supplementing poultry feed with mulberry leaf meal. 

Beijing Sunrise's production of mulberry leaf feed has not only filled the needs of China's local feed industry. On Mar 24 this year, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries approved the import of the first batch of China-produced mulberry leaf feed products, after conducting stringent quality inspections on them.

As China has started exporting mulberry leaf feed products to Japan, industry players say such products may be well positioned to gain wider acceptance in the global feed markets as well.