Scientists are trying to use essential oils instead of antibiotics in agriculture

Over the past six years, the production of essential oils in RUSSIA has doubled, reports the analytical agency FEEDLOT. The main consumers of these products remain cosmetology and pharmaceuticals, but analysts indicate that agriculture is becoming another area in which essential oils are used . Industry representatives in the message spoke about how essential oils are used in agriculture.

As experts from the Crimean Research Institute of Agriculture explained to the Veterinary and Life publication, essential oils in veterinary medicine are good because they are low-toxic and do not cause side effects. They are used as feed additives, used for inhalation and as components of medications. They are also trying to use essential oils where antibiotics and synthetic antioxidants are usually used.

Thus, they tried to give essential oils as a feed additive to broiler chickens instead of antibiotics and synthetic antioxidants. The experiment was carried out in the first five days of the chickens' life, and the results showed that phytobiotics have immunostimulating, anti-stress and antibacterial effects, scientists report . The mechanism by which phytobiotics work is not fully understood, but experts point out that when using essential oils, there is no risk inherent in antibiotics of developing resistance and the emergence of disease strains that will be even more dangerous.