Sixteen multifarious cows were selected on the basis of average daily milk yield and stage of lactation; they were divided into four groups (four cows in each group) with parity within each group. These cows were fed 10gm, 15gm and 20gm probiotics just before evening milk. The multi-strain probiotic used were containing four strains consist of bacteria and fungi namely Lactobacillus acidophilus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Saccharomyces boulardii and Propionibacterium frendenreichii. It was found that, the use of probiotics proved to be effective in increasing milk production of lactating cows. Milk fat, milk protein and SNF content tended to be higher in cows supplemented with probiotics preparations. The appropriate level of 20 gm probiotic per day per animal was found effective. The economic advantage of probiotics depends on its relative prices and on the levels of milk production of the cows.

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Twenty five market skim milk powder samples obtained from various regions of Maharashtra were analysed for their chemical composition, physico-chemical properties and microbiological quality to access their suitability in terms of national and international standards. It was observed that the moisture, fat, protein, lactose and ash content of SMP samples obtained from various regions showed significant difference (P<0.05). It was also revealed that the scorched particle content, solubility index, dispersibility, wettability properties of samples varied significantly in different regions for different brands. Similarly, the NPN and true protein content in SMP samples of different regions were significantly different from each other. The average free fat content in the samples from Vidarabha was significantly higher than that of the other regions of the state. The titratable acidity and lactate content of various brands of SMP samples were ranged from 0.97-1.08 and 75-550 mg/ 100 g, respectively. It was observed that three brands out of twenty five samples were found positive for alkali neutralizers. Wide variation was observed in standard plate count and coliform counts of all the SMP samples of various brands collected from five different regions of Maharashtra.

The study entitled "Comparative studies of Jowar and soybean straw feeding in Sahiwal cows" was conducted for period of 95 day. Six sahiwal cows were divided into three groups on the nearness of age and weight. Three feeding treatment were studied namely T 1 (Jowar straw adlib + 5 kg Green Hy. napier + 1kg concentrate), T 2 (50% Jowar straw adlib + 50% Soybean straw adlib + 5 kg Green Hy.Napier +0.750 kg concentrate), T 3 (Soybean straw adlib + 5 kg Green Hy.Napier + 0.500 kg concentrate) was fulfil requirement of sahiwal cow in all treatments. Experimental feeding lasted 95 days including 7 days gap for reducing residual effect before starting second and third period. An attempt was made to study the effect of Feeding of jowar straw in combination with soybean straw on feed intake, dry matter intake of Sahiwal. The DMI intake and body weight gain during the experiment period were found significantly superior in T 2 treatment over T 1 and T 3 .