Potential use of sugarcane trash as a fodder source

Abstract

Over the years, livestock producers meet their fodder requirements through a combination of crop residues, grazing (on common lands, private lands, forests, fallow agricultural lands and harvested agricultural lands) and cultivated forage crops (mostly by large landholders), while some of them purchase fodder. However, it should be noted that, crop residues are used as the most abundant livestock feeds and have a great potential as a feed stuff in India. It is also found that their nutritional value is poor and is well documented. In this context, to improve the value of such low-quality feedstuffs, the urea treatment technology is considered as potential option. A large number of on-station and on-farm trials conducted in several countries under different conditions have shown that feeding urea-treated straw/dry fodder vis-a-vis untreated straw increases feed intake by 10 to 15%, growth rate of calves by 100 to 150 g/day and milk yield by 0.5 to 1.5 litres/day. Urea-treated straw is more palatable and digestible. The dry matter (DM) digestibility increases by approximately 10% units, the total digestible nutrient (TDN) value increases by 10 to 15% units and the CP content increases almost three times. However, this technology or process has its own limitations due to which it is not disseminated effectively to field conditions.