Feeding Response of Tree Fodder Bhimal (Grewia optiva) on Growth Performance of Castrated Male Goats

Abstract

Bhimal (Grewia optiva) is a fodder tree mostly found in mid hills of mid and far western region of Nepal. Bhimalcould constitutes one of the main livestock green fodders, especially for goats when fresh green fodder become limited during the winter dry season. However, the feeding value of Bhimalleaveson growth performance of castrated goats probably has not been evaluated so far. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to evaluate theeffect of Bhimalleaves feeding ongrowth performance of castrated male goatsfor 90 days.Altogether 16 growing castrated male goats of same breed, age and body weight were selected and equally divided into four treatments T1, T2, T3 and T4 with four replications by using Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Fourtypesof experimental diets wereprepared having various levels (0 to 100%) of Bhimalleaves as fodder. Experimental animals of Treatment 1 were fed with seasonal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, Treatment 2 with 100% Bhimal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, Treatment 3with 75% Bhimal fodder + 25% seasonal fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture, while Treatment 4 with 50% Bhimal fodder + 50% season fodder + 100 g concentrate mixture.All diets were fed ad-lib andexperimental animals had free access to drinking water. The dietsoffered and refusal was measured daily and weight change was observed fortnightly. The resultshowed that fodder intake (g/d/animal) and total dry matter intake (TDMI g/kg live weight) of goats differed significantly (P<0.01), but concentrate intake was not differed significantly (P<0.01) among treatments. The highest dry matter intake per animal /day was in Treatment 2 (52.75 g/kg live weight) followed by Treatment 4, Treatment 3 and Treatment 1 (51.7, 48.56 and 32.69 g/kg live weight, respectively).The average daily gain in body weight was observed highest in Treatment 2 (66.66 g/d) followed by Treatment 3 (31.66 g/d) and Treatment 4 (30.83 g). The growth rate was significantly (P<0.01) different among diet groups (P<0.05, P<0.01 and P<0.01 for 60, 75 and 90 days, respectively). In case of the feed conversion ratio, Treatment 2 had best ratio (8.79:1) than Treatment 1 (14.21:1), T3 (17.03:1) and Treatment 4 (18.59:1). The present response study showed thatbody weight in castrated male goatscan be increased significantly (P<0.05) implying that in winter season when other green forages are poorly available goat farming can be supported by Bhimalfodder tree. Keywords

Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis for Grain Yield Components in Maize (Zea mays L.)

“…Similar findings were reported by Amegbor et al[52], Devasree et al[46], Pandey et al[53], Kinfe et al[43], Kote et al[46], Reddy et al[36], Kumar et al[54], Selvaraj et al[5], Saidaiah et al[44], Geetha et al[55]. Similar findings were reported by Devasree et al[56], Pandey et al[53], Kote et al[36], Selvaraj et al[5], Saidaiah et al[44], Singh et al[38], Kinfe et al[43], Reddy et al[36], Kumar et al[54], Geetha et al[55].…”

In vitro digestibility and fermentation kinetics of some north eastern Himalayan tree leaves using cattle rumen fluid as inoculum

“…Gupta et al (2016) reported that some tree leaves in Ayodhya hills of Purulia district (West Bengal) have a great potential to serve as local livestock fodder due to high content of protein and metabolizable energy. Furthermore, supplementation of low quality roughage with tree foliages either fresh or as leaf meal has been found to be effective in improving the animal performance during the dry season while lowering the cost of production at the same time (Pandey et al 2017). Therefore, as there is inadequate data regarding the nutritive value of various tree fodders and shrubs, the present study was designed to exploit few tree leaves found in north eastern Himalayan regions by in vitro gas production technique for ascertaining their role as livestock feed.…”

Integration of Vigna mungo under Grewia optiva based Traditional Agroforestry System

“…Bhimal (Grewia optiva) is a medium sized multipurpose fodder tree growing in sub-tropical climates of northwestern Himalayas, fairly well distributed up to middle elevations (500-2500 masl) in India, Pakistan and Nepal (Semwal et al, 2002). The Bhimal fodder is quite important as it provides nutritious fodder during the lean season (Singh, 1982).The Bhimal fodder contains 17.35 -21% crude protein, 17-21.51% crude fiber, 10.42-21.50 % total ash, 4.21-6% ether extract and 40.41-50.24% nitrogen free extract (Shankhyan and Bhagta, 2016) and do not contain tannins (Pandey et al, 2017). Green fodder yield from mature bhimal trees is reported to be 12-30 kg.…”