Optimizing sow nutrition and physiological condition to enhance reproductive performance, piglet development, and productivity: Current advances and future perspectives

Modern swine production has undergone remarkable genetic improvement, resulting in increased litter sizes and enhanced production efficiency. However, these advances have also imposed greater nutritional and physiological demands on breeding sows, making maternal nutritional management increasingly important for sustaining reproductive performance, piglet survival, and sow longevity. This review synthesizes current evidence on the relationships among sow physiological condition, nutritional management during gestation and lactation, and subsequent reproductive and productive outcomes. Particular emphasis is placed on body condition score (BCS) and backfat thickness as practical indicators of maternal energy reserves that influence fetal development, mammary gland function, milk production, reproductive recovery, and piglet growth. Nutritional strategies, including stage-specific feeding during gestation, increased feed allowance during late pregnancy, optimized lactation feeding programs, and precision feeding approaches, are discussed in relation to their effects on sow metabolism, reproductive efficiency, piglet birth weight, weaning performance, and overall production sustainability. Emerging advances in precision livestock farming, including automated feeding systems, sensor technologies, and real-time physiological monitoring, are also examined as promising tools for individualized nutritional management and improved production efficiency. Although considerable progress has been achieved, inconsistencies remain regarding the optimal nutritional management of sows across different parities, genetic lines, and production systems. Future research should integrate precision nutrition, physiological biomarkers, and smart farming technologies to develop adaptive feeding strategies that improve reproductive efficiency, enhance piglet lifetime performance, and promote sustainable swine production. Collectively, the available evidence highlights that maintaining optimal maternal physiological condition through targeted nutritional management is fundamental to maximizing sow productivity, improving piglets weaned per sow per year, and supporting the long-term sustainability of modern pork production.