Journal of Agricultural Science and Practice Volume 4(1), pages 1-3, February 2019 https://doi.org/10.31248/JASP2018.117 ISSN 2536-7072. Copyright © 2019 Article Number: 060D00231 http://integrityresjournals.org/journal/JASP Full Length Research Performance of broiler chickens fed graded levels of Ripe Plantain Peel Meal (RPPM) as replacement for maize Agubosi, O. C. P.*, Oluwafemi, R. A. and Ibrahim, T. U. Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Abuja. Abuja. *Corresponding author. Email: oluchyagubosi@yahoo.com Copyright © 2019 Agubosi et al. This article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Received 7th December, 2018; Accepted 16th January, 2019 ABSTRACT: This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of broiler chickens fed graded levels of ripe plantain peels meal (RPPM) as replacement for maize. One hundred and fifty day old Anak strain broiler chickens were allotted to five dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Each treatment was replicated three times with 10 birds per replicate. The test ingredient (RPPM) was replaced at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% levels representing T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively. The diets were Isonitrogenous (23 and 20% CP) for starter and finisher respectively. Feed and water were provided ad-libitum throughout the study period of 56 days and routine management practices were strictly adhered to. Parameters measured were feed intake and weight gain. Feed conversion ratio, feed cost/kg and feed cost/kg gain were calculated. Results showed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences in the final live weight, feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio and feed cost/kg. Based on this study, RPPM could replace maize up to 75% which is the inclusion level that gave the best feed conversion ratio and cost efficiency. Keywords: Broiler, ripe plantain peel meal, maize, performance. INTRODUCTION Agriculture continues to play significant roles in the livelihood and economic development of nations all over the world. In Nigeria, the sector is the largest employer of labour with the livestock subsector responsible for the supply of animal protein which is highly essential in human nutrition. One of the challenges facing the livestock sector is the high cost of feed. The stiff competition existing between humans and animals over the limited supply of grains has resulted in a near collapse of the poultry industry in Nigeria (Ahaotu et al. 2009a). It is therefore a common trend for Animal Nutritionist to look for non- conventional feedstuffs that are readily available and cheaper in order to cut down on the feed cost which constitute about 65 to 70% of the total cost of production (Ologhobo, 1992). This strategy could help reduce the cost of production and ensure cheaper meat production for human consumption. The economization of feed cost using cheaper and unconventional feed resources (Vasanthakumar et al., 1999) is an important aspect of commercial poultry production. There are larger numbers of feedstuffs with enormous potentials in Nigeria and one of such is plantain (Musa paradisiaca) peels. Plantain peels is a waste of plantain processing industries, families, road side deep fryers, restaurants, hotels, eateries and if disposed carelessly will pollute the environment. Plantain peel is a good source of energy containing 12% crude protein, 6% crude fiber and 2700 Kcal/kg energy on dry matter basis (Omole et al., 2008). Plantain peels also contains higher levels of minerals such as calcium, iron and phosphorus (Nsa et al., 2010). Almost all parts of the plantain plant are useful. The leaves are used for wrapping, packaging and often used as roofing materials in villages. Recently, plantain peels have been used as feedstuff for growing snails, fishes, rabbits and poultry (Omole et al., 2008). The use of plantain peels in poultry has been limited because of deleterious effects arising from the presence of tannins. Through sun drying process, the level of tannins