BACKGROUND: Plant breeders have attempted to improve the nutritonal value of lucerne (alfalfa) by selecting for higher protein and lower fibre concentrations. Although targeted at ruminants, such changes could also improve the nutritional value of lucerne for monogastrics. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of graded levels of dehydrated lucerne meal on nutrient digestibility, performance and carcass traits of swine.

BACKGROUND: We recently determined that 150 g kg −1 of lucerne meal can be fed during the finishing period without detrimental effects on pig performance but lucerne should be limited to less than 75 g kg −1 during the growing period. Lucerne has a high fiber content, is poorly digested and contains antinutritional factors such as saponins which reduce palatability. Therefore, pig performance could be enhanced by supplementing lucerne-containing diets with feed additives such as flavors, enzymes or organic acids. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of these additives on nutrient digestibility, performance and carcass traits when fed to growing-finishing swine fed diets containing lucerne.

Huge deficit in demand and domestic production of green fodder exists that need to be abridged to cope with demand of fast-growing livestock sector. Livestock being an essentials agriculture allied sector shares around 11 % in GDP, which is 60.54 % of agriculture contribution to GDP (GoP, 2019). Due to shortage as well as unavailability of good quality Abstract | Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) is an important fodder crop of Pakistan that provides nutritious and palatable fodder in repeated cuttings. Gap in its yield is required to be addressed, which is aim of the current study. This study was carried out to select an appropriate sowing technique for optimization of fodder and seed yield as well as to maximize the net return. The experiment was conducted using five sowing techniques viz., broadcast, different row sowing with spacing of 15 cm, 30 cm, 45 cm and 60 cm. Sowing was done during first week of October during each year using seed of new berseem cultivar "Punjab Berseem" at rate of 20 kg ha -1 . All fodder parameters of each of four cuts and seed yield on harvesting were recorded and analyzed. The results showed that broadcast (BC) sowing gave maximum values of yield attributes and increased fodder yield by 43.78 %, seed yield by 14.18 % and CP yield by 45.14% over control (i.e., row spacing of 30 cm). Economic analysis indicated a maximum benefit-cast ratio of 3.51 under broadcast sowing in standing water as compared to control.

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Mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek) is a popular pulse crop, producing protein-rich food and nitrogen-rich residues. Mungbean sprouts were grown at different temperature levels of 10, 20 and 30°C in various water purities of 30 (distilled water), 100, 400, 700 and 1000 TDS (ppm). After keeping them in the germination chamber for 72 h, the percentage of germination, stem length and yield along with proximate composition were determined. The temperature was kept as main factor and water purity as the second. The experiment was replicated four times and the data obtained were analyzed using two factorial completely randomized design. The results showed that both the factors had significant (p<0.05) effect on the germination, stem length, yield as well as proximate composition. A temperature of 30°C and water with high purity of 30 TDS resulted in high emergence (69%), stem length (3.14 cm) and yield (70.1 g) as compared to the other treatments. Minimum germination (2.1%), stem length (0.11 cm) and yield (12.11 g) were recorded in samples kept at low temperature of 10°C and water purity with 1000 TDS. The mungbean seeds showed a very low plasticity to water purity, and that they were very susceptible to water impurities. It is concluded that, to prepare sprouts from mungbeans, it is necessary to germinate mungbean seeds them in water having high purity and temperature of 30 o C for maximum germination, stem length and yield.