M EDICINA VETERINARIAY ZOO TECNIA Abstract This work aims to assess the economic impact of supplementation with arborea and agro-industrial by-products in zebu cattle. Productive per- formance test was conducted for 60 days in the municipality of Gómez Plata (Antioquia-Colombia). Twenty castrated males commercial zebu re- ceived five diets consisting for Pangola (Digitaria decumbens) (60%) and supplement (40%) containing matarratón (Gliricidia sepium) (MAT), coffee pulp (Coffea arabica) (CP), grape pomace (Vitis vinifera) (GP) or cottonseed (Gossypium sp.) (CS); the control diet (CON) was not formulated with these materials. The economic analysis included the cost-structure of diet, cal- culation of total and unit production cost, sensitivity analysis and cost-be- nefit ratio (B/C). In relation to CON diet, the cost per kilogram of diet was superior to CP and GP, 2.39 and 1.87 times, respectively. The value of a kilogram of meat for CP, GP and MAT diets was 3.47, 2.04 and 1.40 times higher compared with CON diet. The B/C ratio was negative for CP and GP diets, however, the sensitivity analysis showed that the introduction of GP is economically viable if its acquisition cost is lower. The costs associated with diet CS were slightly lower than the CON diet (93%), so the B/C ra- tio was slightly higher. It concludes that the introduction of arborea and by-products is not economically feasible in all cases because factors such as regional availability and dehydration increase production costs. Keywords: alternative food, cost-benefit ratio, production costs, sensitivity analysis. Resumen Este trabajo tiene por objetivo evaluar el impacto económico de la suple- mentación con recursos arbóreos y agroindustriales en ganado cebú. La prueba de desempeño productivo se realizó durante 60 días en el mu- nicipio de Gómez Plata (Antioquia-Colombia). Se emplearon 20 machos castrados cebú comercial, que recibieron cinco dietas constituidas por Pangola (Digitaria decumbens) (60%) y suplemento (40%) conteniendo ma- tarratón (Gliricidia sepium) (MAT), pulpa de café (Coffea arabica) (PC), orujo de uva (Vitis vinifera) (OU) o semilla de algodón (Gossypium sp.) (SA); la Fecha correspondencia: Recibido: 14 de junio de 2016. Aceptado: 8 de noviembre de 2016. Forma de citar: Posada SL, Ortiz DM, Rosero Noguera R, Vélez CA, Barrios D. Análisis económico de la suple- mentación con recursos arbóreos y agroindustriales en ganado cebú. Rev. CES Med. Zootec. 2016; Vol 11 (3): 23-34. Open access © Copyright Creative commons Éthics of publications Peer review Open Journal System e-ISSN 1900-9607 Sobre los autores: 1 Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Agrarias-GRICA 2 Grupo de Investigación Biogénesis 1,2 Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Antioquia, AA 1226, Medellín, Colombia Artículo de investigación Economic analysis of supplementation with arborea and agro-industrial by-products in zebu cattle Análisis económico de la suplementación con recursos arbóreos y agroindustriales en ganado cebú Análise econômica da suplementação com recursos arbóreas e agroindustriais em gado zebu Sandra Lucía Posada 1 , Zoot, DrSc CvLAC , Diana María Ortiz 1, Zoot, MSc CvLAC , Ricardo Rosero Noguera 1 Zoot, DrSc CvLAC , Carlos Alberto Vélez 1 Econ, MSc CvLAC , Dursun Barrios 2 Zoot, MSc, CvLAC Comparte