Nutritional Analysis of Locally Preferred Fodder Trees of Middle Hills of Nepal: A Case Study from Hemja VDC, Kaski District

Abstract

The study on nutritional value of locally preferred fodder trees in the farmland of middle hills of Nepal was conducted in Hemja VDC of Kaski district. Primary information on distribution and frequency of fodder trees was obtained through key informants survey, group discussion and observation of the study area. The preference ranking of ten most abundant fodder trees was done on the basis of palatability, propagation easiness, growth rate and competition with agricultural crops. The nutritional value of fodder species was analyzed and compared with the farmers' preference ranking to examine association among them. The analysis correspond farmers' preference of fodder tree species to their nutritional values. The study revealed that Ficus subinisa was the dominant fodder tree however, the Artocarpus lakoocha was highly preferred trees for its palatability and nourishing values. Nutritional analysis of ten preferred fodder species with respect to moisture, ash, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber and carbohydrate was carried out. The crude protein varied from 15-29%, in which, A. lakoocha to contained the highest amount of crude protein. Similarly, F. lacor contained highest crude fiber (42.07%), and Machilus odoratissima yielded highest amount of carbohydrate (21.92%).

Fodder Production and Livestock Rearing in Relation to Climate Change and Possible Adaptation Measures in Manaslu Conservation Area, Nepal

“…Similarly, the adoptability of F. roxburghii was highest (index value 0.69) which was followed by M. azedarach (index value 0.60), F. glomerata (0.59) other Takpa and thorny species (index value 0.57) and finally M. alba (0.53) respectively. Similar type of ranking was carried by Dhungana et al (2012) and observed the similar results in Hemja VDC of Kaski District Nepal (Table 1).…”

Connecting nutritional facts with the traditional ranking of ethnobotanically used fodder grasses by local farmers in Central Punjab of Pakistan

“…The study revealed that the ethnobotanical knowledge of local shepherds and animal caretakers was quite consistent with the nutritional data of studied grasses. The current findings are in agreement with the reported data of Keba et al 10 , Dhungana et al 11 , Talore 12 , Rakib-Uz-Zaman et al 90 and Rodrigues et al 91 who supported the positive association between laboratory results and ethnobotanical knowledge. Therefore, traditional knowledge should not be ignored and must be used as an approach for better understanding of nutritive potential of local fodder/forage resources under predominant environmental conditions.…”

Indigenous Knowledge on Use of Local Fodder Trees in Mid Hills of West Nepal

“…Samant et al (2007) listed 150 species of fodder representing trees, shrubs and herbs used as fodder for livestock in Indian Himalayan Region. Similarly, Dhungana et al (2012) studied fodder trees in the Kaski district, Panday (1982) studied in Palpa district and Chapa (1994) studied from Salyan district of midhills of Nepal. Some of the species are similar with that of present finding (Table 3) and they also ranked plants on the basis of criteria similar to this paper.…”

“…Each respondent was asked to list the fodder with their quality (fair, good and best) use in the area and rank the fodder in order of merit from 1 to 10 according to their preferences. Primary data obtained from field observation and secondary data (nutrient analysis of preferred and high ranked species) from different sources (FAO Report, 2002;Upreti and Shrestha, 2006;Dhungana et al, 2012) have been used. RESULTS Arghakhanchi, one of the mid hill districts of Nepal is found rich in fodder plants.…”