Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA) 4(2) (2020) 86-93 Quick Response Code Access this article online Website: www.myjsustainagri.com DOI: 10.26480/mjsa.02.2020.86.93 Cite the Article: Emanuel Joel Lao, Ernest Rashid Mbega (2020). Biochar As A Feed Additive For Improving The Performance Of Farm Animals. Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 4(2): 86-93. ISSN: 2521-2931 (Print) ISSN: 2521-294X (Online) CODEN: MJSAEJ RESEARCH ARTICLE Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA) DOI: http://doi.org/10.26480/mjsa.02.2020.86.93 BIOCHAR AS A FEED ADDITIVE FOR IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF FARM ANIMALS Emanuel Joel Lao a,b* , Ernest Rashid Mbega a a Department of Sustainable Agriculture, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST). P. O. Box 447, Tengeru, Arusha - Tanzania. b Centre for Research, Agriculture Advancement, Teaching Excellence and Sustainability (CREATES), The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania * Corresponding Author’s E-mail: laoemanueljoel@gmail.com This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT Article History: Received 08 January 2020 Accepted 10 February 2020 Available online 10 March 2020 Biochar, also known as biomass-derived char or charcoal is a dark/black carbonaceous material generated from the pyrolysis process under temperature averagely 700 0 C and low oxygen levels. Depending on the intended objectives and conditions of the pyrolysis, the biochar, syngas and bio-oils are the three primary products generated. The quality of biochar is a function of its primary biomass source, residence time and temperature during pyrolysis which in turn results in variations of its physicochemical characteristics such as porosity, carbon content, elemental composition, surface area, retention capacity, and overall applications. The physical and chemical activation techniques to produce the activated charcoal is often done to improve the effectiveness of these carbonaceous materials. The biochar has broadly been used globally in agro- environmental management including in livestock production. Its inclusion at 1 - 3 % of DM of animal feed rations have been studied to improve health conditions and performance of farm animals such as weight gain, immunity response, feed intake, feed conversion rates, carcass characteristics and overall quality of animal products. The mechanisms associated with the beneficial impacts rely on adsorption ability of these materials in detoxifying the mycotoxins in feed, regulating plant-produced toxins, having a high affinity to pollutants as well as improvement of the beneficial microbial populations in animals' gastrointestinal tract. However, the current literature indicates there is still a need for more investigation on the effectiveness of biochar in animal production due to either limited knowledge or contrasting findings reported. Also, there are imperative challenges which need to be addressed such as safety standards, specificity, potential contamination, affordability, and level of awareness by farmers who are end-users of biochar and its products. KEYWORDS Activated charcoal, Adsorption, Animal performance, Biochar, Detoxification, Pyrolysis. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Even though research and biochar usage has gained considerable attention from the late 19 th century, its application for different purposes such as detoxification of animal feed is acknowledged to have been practiced back in ancient times among different global cultures (Gerlach and Schmidt, 2012). The inclusion of biochar in the production of pigs has widely been used from the 1880s while also near mid 20 th centuries (the 1940s), it has reportedly been applied in poultry feeding (Totusek and Beeson, 1953). From the current literature, the benefits that can be obtained by animals are quite diverse which range from detoxification of animal feed, enhancing feed intake and digestion, promoting animal live weight gain as well as improving the quantity and quality of animal products such as milk, eggs and meat (Toth and Dou, 2016). While most of the current research on biochar and activated charcoal are more focusing on its potential in mitigating climate change, improving soil characteristics, managing the wastes and modulating environmental pollution, relatively little attention is being paid to its role as a feed additive to farm animals' productivity (McHenry, 2010). This article has therefore reviewed the current knowledge on the production of biochar, its conversion to activated form and the primary factors influencing its characteristics and hence the application. Also, mechanisms of biochar as a potential feed additive as well as the benefits related to the improvement of the health and performance of farm animals specifically the ruminants, swine and poultry being thoroughly presented. Additionally, its limitations as a feed supplement and future suggestions for improvement are briefly highlighted. 1.2 Production of Biochar by Pyrolysis Biochar is a highly porous, recalcitrant and non-soluble organic powder material that is generated when biomass has undergone pyrolysis at temperatures averagely 700 0 C and low oxygen levels (Toth and Dou, 2016; Tang et al., 2013). A wide range of biomass sources has been globally used which include animal manure, crop residues, agro-industrial by- products as well as forestry wastes (Toth and Dou, 2016; Ahmad, 2014; Jindo et al., 2014; Olieveira et al., 2017; Weber and Quicker, 2018). The common characteristics for all the biomass sources are their cost- effectiveness, environmentally friendly as well as ability to enhance the