LPM 121: Fodder Production and Grassland Management (1+1)

Formulation of feed ration

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF PROCUREMENT OF FEEDS

• In formulating the most efficient and economic ration for livestock, one must select ingredients that supply basic animal requirements- energy, protein, minerals and vitamins to maintain the growth, yield and health of the animals.
• Initially farmers relied almost entirely upon food grains and roughage grown on the farm to feed their livestock. Now it is known that the byproducts of milling, meat packing, oil seed processing and other processing industries had considerable feed value as they not only contain substantial amount of protein but also furnish minerals and vitamins lacking in the feed grains and roughages.
• Use of non-conventional raw materials for animal feeding is thought of, which not only helps to reduce the feed cost, but also helps to conserve food grains and other material for human consumption. Eg: Oil cakes, brans, husks, wastes from dal mills, slaughter houses, etc.
• Usually the ration for the milch animals consists of some amount of green fodder , dry fodder and concentrates. The green and dry fodders can be from cereals or grasses and also legumes.
• A concentrate is prepared by mixing different ingredients to meet the animal needs. These would be grains, oil cakes, some bran and other items along with essentials like mineral mixture, salt, etc.
• The feed stuffs for formulating ration can be chosen based on nutritional composition, availability, physical and processing characteristics and economics.
• For eg., the choice of grains of either sorghum, maize or bajra might be assessed under local economic conditions. Similarly the oil cakes; groundnut cake, Sesamum cake, cotton seed cake are alternatives to each other. Depending on the availability and economics, any one can be chosen.