CATTLE FEED (PASHU AAHAR)

India possesses an enormous cattle (180 million) and buffalo (61 million) population but the annual milk production has reached only about 30 million tons. The low milk production is primarily dur to the poor potential of the animal and the lack of adequate nutrition. For the fullest exploitation of their genetic potentialities, better feeding must go hand in hand with better breeding. The principal feed resources for animal consumption in the country are crop residues like straws of wheat, rice and other cereals and stoves which are very poor in feed value. Even these ate in short supply. These are supplemented to some extent by relatively better quality fodders like cultivated leguminous and non liguminous fodder grasses and concentrates. The latter are formulated largely from agro-industrial by-product and forest wastes and small quantities of low-grade cereals with the present stock of feed and fodder resources available in the country, it is well impossible to meet the nutrient requirements of even the present day low-producing cattle and buffaloes such a situation is bound to aggravate difficulties in the feeding of better producing livestock such as cross bred lows in exploiting their full genetic potentiality for early growth, better reproduction and higher milk production. Livestock in the country, therefore, suffer widely from insufficient supply of nutrients. The unconventional agro-industrial by products and forest wastes may find a greater use as livestock feeds in coming years. The nutritive value of tropical feeds and fodder is lower than those grown in temperate region. This situation does not allow cows to consume maximum amount feeds, nor to get feeds of minimum allowable digestibility. It is not possible to anticipate any remarkable improvement in the feed situation in the near future and also in the supply of high digestible ingredients like waste grains. The digestibility of feed for meeting nutrient requirements of the cattle must bear relation to its intake capacity. In order that a cow with high milk yielding potential, which this country is looking forward to have in large numbers, produce milk to their inherited capacity, it will be necessary to provide adequate and balanced nutrition that should include high quality fodder and concentrates, mostly originating from agro industrial by products and wastes. The poor quality fodders like straws and stovers when chopped and fortified with urea, molasses and mineral mixture, improve in nutritive value and papatability. Such practice should be followed to maximize the utilization of valuable fodder resources. It is also necessary to preserve good quality forage as hay or silgae to provide for feed during the lean periods. With the availability of food quality fodder and some feed concentrate to supplement the ration in meeting the various nutrient requirements, the milk production will certainly go higher even with the existing cattle and buffalo population.