Utility and economical value of treated paddy straw fed to the lactating buffaloes

Abstract

A field level study was conducted to investigate the prospective of treated paddy straw feeding to the lactating
buffaloes belonging to small and large category farmers. Twenty four lactating buffaloes were selected in
each category among which 12 buffaloes were fed with urea treated paddy straw and 12 were fed with
untreated straw in their mixed ration. The paddy straw was treated with 65 litter of water as 6 percent urea
solution/100 kg straw mixed with berseem and local available concentrate fed to lactating buffaloes. It was
found that the urea treatment cost of small farmers was more than large farmer. During the study found
that milk yield in lactating animals fed with urea treated straw were 5.92 liters for small farmers (T1) and
6.30 liters for large farmers (T2) which was higher compared to the animals fed with untreated straw (5.37
and 5.85 liters , respectively for small and large farmers. The overall income over the feed cost/animal/
day was higher for farmers following urea treatment than farmers who practiced traditional feeding. It may
conclude that urea treatment technique improved the quality of paddy straw with respect to its utilization
and economic value in lactating buffalo. Therefore study indicated picture that large farmers can take more
profit if they opted the technique for improve the nutritive value of paddy straw.