Paddy straw is a major agro-residue fed to ruminants in India. Feeding only rice straw does not provide enough nutrients to the ruminants even for maintenance due to the low nutritive value of this highly lignified material containing high concentration of anti-nutrition factors like lignin, silicates and oxalates. Despite the improvements of crop residues through various processing methods such as physical and chemical, the efficient utilization to desirable extent is still awaited. So utilization of paddy straw in association with concept of complete feed along with biological agents is need of the hour to maximize advantage from given feeds in animal production systems.

No abstract

The study was carried to evaluate the effects of feeding phytogenic feed additive, Artemisia absinthiumon nutrient intake, nutrient digestibility, utilization and performance of sheep. Ten male adult Bakerwal sheep were randomly divided into control group (T 0 ) and treatment group (T 1 ). The complete ration for T 1 was fortified with herb Artemisia absinthium@ 4%. Significant (P<0.05) differences were observed in DM intake, OM intake, average daily gainand digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, CP and EE. However, non-significant (P<0.05) differences were recorded in digestibility coefficients of NFE, NDF, ADF and HC. Significant increase in % DCP and % TDN were recorded in T 1 group as compared to T 0 group. Nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus balance were comparable between two groups and were positive in both groups. Among haemato-biochemical parameters blood glucose, Hb, PCV and total serum proteins, differed non-significantly (P0.05) between the groups, both before and after experimental feeding, except the BUN which was found significantly (P0.05) higher in herb supplemented group.

Fresh tengra fish (Mystus tengara) samples were collected from fish market, Kawardha and different levels of salt and turmeric powder were added (0% salt and 0% turmeric powder, T0; 2% salt with 0.2% turmeric, T1; 4% salt with 0.2% turmeric, T2; 8% salt with 0% turmeric powder, T3 and 12% salt with 0% turmeric powder, T4). The processed and salted fish were dried in hot air oven at 60°C for 20 hours. Carcass yield (%), salt content (%), pH and moisture content of cured fish were respectively 39.06 - 43.87%, 3.15 - 4.59%, 6.52- 6.90 and 4.91 – 6.84 %. The sensory assessment showed that treatment T2 had the highest score for texture 5.70; appearance 8.30, odor 8.02 and taste 8.05 while T0 and T1 had least sensory scores. Aerobic plate count of various treatments were found significantly different (p Lass Than 0.05) with the lowest in treatment T4 (3.3 x 103 cfu/g) followed by treatment T2 (3.7 x 103 cfu/g) and highest in treatment T0 (5.4 x 103 cfu/g). Tengra fish cured with 4% salt and 0.2% turmeric powder (T2) found to be the best in yield, microbial load and sensory attributes. The dry salted fish processed with low level of salt and turmeric powder are best for human consumption, particularly for the patients of blood pressure and diabetes.Therefore, preparation of dried products from low-cost fish will help in increasing the employment opportunities and also reduce post-harvest losses.

Growth trial of 90 days was conducted on 12 male Corriedale lambs, divided in two groups of six lambs each, to study the effect of feeding of paddy straw based complete feed supplemented of probiotic mix (Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2×1010cfu/g + Lactobacillus acidophilus 6×109cfu/g) in equal ratio @ 3 % of DM, as per the in vitro studies, while complete feed without probiotics served as control. There was significantly (P less than 0.01) higher haemoglobin concentration, RBC, WBC and monocyte count in animals fed probiotic mix than control, with no significant effect on PCV, lymphocyte, eosinophill and neutrophill count. Blood glucose, total serum protein, albumin, globulin, BUN and serum creatinine values were statistically higher in probiotic mix supplemented animals. Lambs fed with probiotics show significant (P less than 0.01) decrease in serum cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides with increment of HDL-cholesterol than animals fed unsupplemented diet, with no effect on enzyme activities of liver enzymes. The lambs fed on probiotic mix shows significant reduction in faecal shedding of E. coli and total coliform with firm pellets faecal consistency. Probiotic mix has great potential to beneficially affect the haemato-biochemical parameters and gut micro-flora and hence improve physiological health status of animals.