Twenty-four (24) indigenous growing pigs were selected and randomly divided into 4 treatment groups consisting of 6 animals in each group penned individually and provided with the facility of separate feeding and watering to each pig. Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) meal (roots and leaves at 1:1 ratio) was incorporated in the diet to replace standard pigs grower ration at 0% (G1), 25% (G2), 50%(G3) and 75% (G4). During the feeding trial of 90 days, it was observed that the average dry matter intake was higher in G2 followed by G3 and G1 being the lowest. The feed conversion efficiency and average daily gain decreased as the level of sweet potato meal increased. However there were no significant differences (P>0.05) among the different treatment groups in regards to feed conversion efficiency and average daily gain. From the digestibility trial, no significant differences (P>0.05) were observed in the digestibility co-efficient of dry matter, crude protein and crude fibre among the different treatment groups. It is concluded that sweet potato meal can replace standard pig grower ration up to 75% without any adverse effect on growth, feed conversion efficiency and nutrient utilization.
The present experiment was conducted to study the soil, plant, animal interrelationship in the temperate sub-alpine zone of Mizoram. Soil, fodder, concentrate feed, milk and serum of lactating cows were collected from different blocks of temperate sub-alpine zone of Mizoram. The samples were digested for mineral estimation in a Microwave digester and analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The soil mineral status showed that Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn and Co were above the critical level and the differences between different blocks of the said zone were significant (p<0.01). The Ca content of concentrate feed showed lower value as well as P and Zn content in the fodder showed lower value than the critical level. The macro and micro mineral content of serum of dairy cattle in the study area were lower than the critical level except Fe, Zn, Mn and Co. Cu and Zn showed significant differences(P< 0.01) among different blocks. Correlation values between soilfodder showed highly significant (p<0.01) positive correlation for Mn, and significant (p<0.05) positive correlation for Co. Fodder-cattle correlation was positive except for Fe where negative correlation was observed and soil-cattle showed positive correlation except for P and Cu. Equations were developed in the present study for prediction of all the minerals based on status of minerals in soil, fodder and cattle. It can be concluded that dairy cattle in temperate sub-alpine zone of Mizoram showed deficiency in most of the minerals and supplementation of area specific mineral mixture is essential for optimum production.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.