Chemical composition of feeds and fodders fed to dairy buffaloes in Amreli district of Gujarat state, India

Introduction

India's livestock sector is a cornerstone of its agricultural economy, characterized by a vast and diverse animal population. India's milk production has grown remarkably over the years, making it the world's largest milk producer (Anonymous, 2025) [1] . Livestock feeding in India largely depends on crop residues and agro-industrial by-products, along with pasture and grasses from common property resources (Dey et al., 2014) [4] . The crop residues and agro-industrial by-products which are deficient in protein and minerals form the bulk of the ration resulting in less availability of nutrients to the lactating animals. High-quality feed is essential for a dairy business to be profitable, as it improves animal health and productivity (Verma et al., 2024) [21] . Assessment of feed and fodder quality is primarily based on their chemical composition, which serves as a key determinant of both animal productivity and overall health status within a region. Evaluation of proximate composition and fibre fractions provides critical information on the nutritive value of feed resources (Ganai et al., 2004) [6] . Minerals play a crucial role in animal nutrition, supporting both production and overall health. They are needed for many digestive, physiological, and biosynthetic processes in the body. Livestock in India do not receive regular mineral supplementation and primarily rely on feed and fodder to meet their mineral requirements (Garg et al., 2002) [7] . Mineral deficiencies are frequently encountered in livestock rations in most tropical countries unless the deficient minerals are supplemented. Comprehensive knowledge of micronutrient levels in feeds and fodder of a particular area is essential for balancing dietary mineral supply and formulating area-specific mineral mixtures. Mineral deficiencies in dairy animals are a common occurrence and have been widely reported to reduce milk yield, impair growth, and lead to reproductive failures (Garg et al., 2010) [9] . In this context, emphasis on the analysis of macro-minerals, especially calcium and phosphorus present in feeds and fodders of the region, is indispensable for maintaining and enhancing dairy animal productivity.

Materials and Methods

Looking to the above facts, the field survey was conducted in the Amreli district of Gujarat state during the period from March 2025 to May 2025 to estimate the proximate constituents, calcium and phosphorus contents in feeds and fodders of the district in order to assess the nutritional status of dairy buffaloes. The Amreli district consists of 11 talukas. The survey was conducted in six talukas viz. Amreli, Babra, Dhari, Khambha, Rajula and Savarkundla of Amreli district. Samples of concentrates, green roughage and dry roughage being offered to the dairy buffaloes were collected from the individual farmers selected based on multistage random sampling method. Samples of green fodder were air dried first and stored in airtight polythene bags. Samples were brought to laboratory, dried in hot air oven at 100±5 °C for 6-8 hours, ground and stored in airtight polythene bags for further analysis of proximate constituents. The individual samples from the taluka were pooled to create a composite sample representing the taluka region for the analysis of calcium and phosphorus content. The laboratory analysis of the samples of feeds and fodders collected during the survey was carried out at the Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary Science and A. H., Kamdhenu University, Junagadh. The proximate constituents of feeds and fodders were estimated as per the methods of AOAC (2023) [2] . Calcium and phosphorus estimation in feeds and fodders were done as per the method of Talapatra et al. (1940) [2] .

Results and Discussion

Proximate Composition of Feeds and Fodders

The proximate composition (% DM basis) of various feeds and fodders being used in Amreli district are presented in Table 1. In the study area, buffalo owners predominantly relied on cottonseed cake and commercial concentrate mixtures produced by private feed mills. Additionally, in Babra and Khambha talukas the farmers were using compound cattle feed manufactured by Amreli District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Limited and Maahi Milk Producer Company Limited, which meet the specification of BIS type II cattle feed. The proximate analysis of concentrates revealed crude protein (CP) ranged from 8.25±0.00 to 33.22±1.26%; crude fibre (CF) from 7.96±0.00 to 26.29±0.58%; ether extract (EE) from 3.34±0.00 to 17.96±0.59%; nitrogen free extract (NFE) from 35.28±0.77 to 73.29±0.00% and total ash (TA) from 4.56±0.69 to 16.65±0.43%. The majority of commercial concentrate mixtures from private feed manufacturers contained CF levels above 18% whereas the CP levels were satisfactory. This may be due to the inclusion of cottonseed and cottonseed cake as principal protein supplement. Farmers in the study area offered green fodders such as lucerne, green jowar, green maize, napier and marvel grass to their dairy buffaloes. The proximate analysis of these green fodders revealed CP ranged from 7.61±1.70 to 16.78±0.68%; CF from 19.36±1.04 to 34.31±2.16%; EE from 1.38±0.27 to 3.64±0.43%; NFE from 41.08±1.16 to 53.36±0.93% and TA from 8.16±0.53 to 16.39±0.64%. For dry fodders, farmers in the study area depended on groundnut gotar, jowar hay, toor gotar, wheat straw and gram gotar to feed their dairy buffaloes. The proximate analysis of these dry fodders revealed CP ranged from 2.78±0.03 to 9.80±0.21%; CF from 33.94±4.45 to 36.99±1.16%; EE from 0.81±0.01 to 1.97±0.07%; NFE from 40.63±0.69 to 48.45±1.42% and TA from 7.55±0.69 to 14.26±0.33%. The proximate composition of feeds and fodders is generally regarded as a preliminary index for assessing their quality. The proximate composition (% DM basis) of the various feedstuffs used in the district was found to be within the normal range and are in agreement with the earlier reports of Goswami (2005) [11] , Dhabi et al. (2011) [5] , ICAR (2013) [14] , Patil et al. (2016) [17] , Sherasia et al. (2016) [19] and Naliyapara et al. (2021) [16] .

Calcium and Phosphorus Contents of Feeds and Fodders

The values of calcium and phosphorus contents (% DM basis) in various feeds and fodders being used in Amreli district are presented in Table 2. The average calcium content of the representative samples of feed and fodder collected from the district ranged from 0.36±0.03 to 1.36±0.04% in concentrates, 0.52±0.04 to 1.88±0.12% in green fodder and 0.45±0.04 to 1.72±0.08% in dry fodder. The calcium content of all the samples was observed above the critical limit (0.30%) as recommended by McDowell (1985) [15] , ensuring an adequate availability of calcium through feed resources in the study area. Similar observations had also been reported by Garg et al. (2003) [8] , ICAR (2013) [14] , Ramesh et al. (2014) [18] , Gupta et al. (2016) [13] , Goswami et al. (2017) [10] and Gupta et al. (2019) [12] . The average phosphorus content of the representative samples of feed and fodder ranged from 0.25±0.00 to 0.61±0.00% in concentrates, 0.27±0.03 to 0.37±0.03% in green fodder and 0.24±0.01 to 0.29±0.01% in dry fodder. Most the feedstuffs had phosphorus content above the critical limit (0.25%) as recommended by McDowell (1985) [15] , expect gram gotar ensuring an adequate availability of phosphorus through feed resources in the study area. The findings of present study are in accordance with the reports of Garg et al. (2003) [8] , ICAR (2013) [14] , Ramesh et al. (2014) [18] , Bhanderi et al. (2016) [3] , Gupta et al. (2016) [13] , Patil et al. (2016) [17] , and Goswami et al. (2017) [10] .

Conclusions

The concentrate feeds commonly used by dairy buffalo owners in Amreli district comprised cottonseed cake, groundnut cake, cottonseed, coconut cake, wheat bran, maize bhardo and compound cattle feed. The green fodders offered to buffaloes during the survey period included lucerne, napier, carrot plant, marvel grass, maize, jowar and bajra. Dry fodders offered were mainly groundnut gotar, jowar hay, wheat straw, toor gotar and gram gotar. The proximate composition of feeds and fodder used in the districts was within the normal range, and calcium and phosphorus contents were adequate in most of them. However, only gram gotar contained phosphorus below the critical limit. Overall, it can be concluded that most of the feeds and fodders in the district had a normal chemical composition, indicating an adequate availability of nutrients to dairy buffaloes through locally available feed resources.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementThe authors are thankful to the dairy buffalo farmers of Amreli district for their kind cooperation and to the Principal, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Kamdhenu University, Junagadh, for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the study.

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