Department of nutrition, dietetics and animal breeding

Scientific research activity

Institute of Nutrition, Dietetics and Feed Production

The solution of the research tasks of the institute is organizationally, materially and technically provided within the framework of grant projects VEGA and APVV agencies for the basic research of nutritional physiology, metabolism, production quality, nutritional prevention and creation of productive health. The aim of the research and professional activity is cattle, preferably dairy cows, with a significant extension of activity on pigs and poultry as well as companion and domestic animals. The research and professional activity of the workplace, according to content and methodology, is in the field of ruminant nutrition aimed at the analytical evaluation of the quality and health safety of feeds, the biological assessment of the nutrional level in relation to the rumen fermentation, the production quantity and quality, biological full-value and health harmlessness of foods, the metabolic testing of the relationship nutrition – production with the analyse of energy, protein and mineral metabolism in the case of the assessment of nutritional level and the analysis of risk nutritional load. The aim of the research activity is to suggest a evaluation system for the quality of forages and TMR for the application in the analytical practice of commercial laboratories as well as to evaluate the nutrional level in the dairy farms. As for monogastric animals, it is performed the verification of the most appropriate methods for the evaluation of the effects of nutrient composition, mutual nutrient interactions and technological modification of feedstuffs on the nutritional and dietary value of feeds with a focus on protein quality on the basis of the achieved knowledge, the precising of the nutritional and energy needs is accomplished in particular with a focus on the effective use of proteins to reduce their losses and the burden on the environment, the enhancement of knowledge about the use of synthetic amino acids, the selected specific active substances and the additives for animal production and feed conversion as well as the indicators of metabolic environment, health status and environmental conditions.

Projects:

• VEGA 1-2606/08: Influence of the quality of fodders on digestibility and metabolism of nutrients in ruminants, implementation 2008 – 2010.
• VEGA 1/0677/08: Nutritional and dietetic evaluation of feeds in relation to the nutrient metabolism and the production parameters of monogastric animals, implementation 2008 – 2010.
• KEGA 3/6452/08: Dietetics and the creation of production animal health, implementation 2008 – 2010.
• VEGA 1/0773/11: Analysis and evaluation of mineral metabolism in the relation soil - plant - animal, implementation 2011 – 2013.
• VEGA 1/0970/11: Analysis of causes and the nutritional prevention of disorders of dairy cows, implementation 2011 – 2013.
• VEGA 1/0878/11: Biological evaluation of nutrition of monogastric animals using specific active substances in relation to production, health and the environment, implementation 2011 – 2013.
• KEGA 015UVLF-4/2011: Print and multimedia study texts for the new study program Safety of feeds and foods, implementation 2011 – 2013.
• KEGA 016UVLF-4/2012: Nutrition, dietetics and nutritional prevention of disorders, production and health of dairy cows, implementation 2012 – 2014.
• VEGA 1/0373/15: The level of mineral metabolism of animals in relation to modified feeds, implementation 2015 – 2017.
• VEGA 1/0663/15: Influence of feed additives on the production health of animals, implementation 2015 – 2017.
• KEGA 004UVLF -4/2015: Study texts for the subject Fodders and poisonous plants, implementation 2015 – 2017.
• KEGA 009UVLF-4/2015: Study texts for e-learning and a textbook for the new subject "Feed Plant Biology and Toxic Plants" in the study program General Veterinary Medicine, implementation 2015 – 2017.
• VEGA 1/0785/16: Nutritional effect on the regulation of milk quantity and components in dairy cows, implementation 2016 – 2018.

Institute of Animal Husbandry

In the past 10 years the Institute worked on two state programmes for scientific development, 2 APVV and 3 projects VEGA. The scientific papers dealing with issues of mastitis in ruminants were published in CC journals abroad as well as in domestic reviewed scientific journals. Their importance is related to the discussed issues: acceleration and upgrading of diagnosis of mastitis, study of myoelectric activity of the cow’s mammary gland tissue affected by various forms of mastitis, study of properties of pathogens involved in environmental mastitis from the point of view of resistance to antibiotics and production of biofilm.

Projects:

• VEGA 1-0384-08: Diagnostically important properties of enterotoxigenic Staphylococus spp. isolated from ruminants with mastitis and raw milk of ruminants from selected locations in Slovakia, implementation 2008 – 2010.
• APVV-0629-07: Aetiology and pathogenesis of mastitis of ruminants caused by Staphylococcus sp. and health safety of produced milk, implementation 2008 – 2010.
• APVV-0679-10: Pathogenesis, prevention and suppression of mastitis caused by bacteria of environmental origin and their impact on milk quality, implementation 2010 – 2013.
• VEGA 1-0449-13: Role of coagulase-negative staphylococci in aetiology of mastitis in Slovakia and some of their important diagnostic features and impact on milk quality, implementation 2013 – 2015.
• VEGA 1/0510/16: Prevention and control of ruminants mastitis caused by bacteria Streptococcus spp. and Staphylococcus spp. and the study of their diagnostically significant properties, implementation 2016 – 2018.

Institute of breeding and diseases of game and fish

Projects:

• VEGA 1/0918/17: Which factors are important for the clone creation and the role of parasite-host relationships and division of niky in this process, implementation 2017 – 2019.
• Helath control and the animal management within the state park reservation TANAP for 2017.