I. Diets based on ragi (EZeusine corucum) (I) were supplemented with L-lysine monohydrochloride (2) to provide 0.50 g additional lysine per day, or with lucerne leaf protein (3) to provide the same amount of lysine as 2, or with sesame flour (4) to provide the same amount of protein as 3. The effects of such supplementation on the growth and nutritional status of twenty children fed on each diet were studied in a feeding trial lasting for 6 months. Nitrogen retention and apparent digestibility of the diets were also studied at one stage during the feeding trials.2. Supplementing ragi diets with any of the materials brought about improvement in all nutritional responses, i.e. height, weight, general nutritional status, apparent digestibility and N retention. The diet supplemented with leaf protein led to the greatest response in growth, as measured by increase in height and weight, followed by those supplemented with lysine and sesame flour in that order.3. The apparent digestibility of the lysine-supplemented diet was lower than those of the diets supplemented with leaf protein and sesame flour.4. The differences in N retention between the children on the three supplemented diets were not significant.5 . The most important observations were that, although lysine as a sole supplement improved the quality of ragi diets, the leaf protein was superior to it because it improved the quality and increased the content of protein in the diet, and that the sesame flour, in spite of increasing the protein content, did not provide adequate lysine.

Hoof lesions represent an important issue in modern dairy herds, with reported prevalence in different countries ranging from 40 to 70%. This high prevalence of hoof lesions has both economic and social consequences, resulting in increased labor expenses and decreasing animal production, longevity, reproduction, health, and welfare. Therefore, a key goal of dairy herds is to reduce the incidence of hoof lesions, which can be achieved both by improving management practices and through genetic selection. The Canadian dairy industry has recently released a hoof health sub-index. This national genetic evaluation program for hoof health was achieved by creating a centralized data collection system that routinely transfers data recorded by hoof trimmers into a coherent and sustainable national database. The 8 most prevalent lesions (digital dermatitis, interdigital dermatitis, interdigital hyperplasia, heel horn erosion, sole hemorrhage, sole ulcer, toe ulcer, and white line lesion) in Canada are analyzed with a multiple-trait model using a single-step genomic BLUP method. Estimated genomic breeding values for each lesion are combined into a sub-index according to their economic value and prevalence. In addition, data recorded within this system were used to create an interactive management report for dairy producers by Canadian DHI, including the prevalence of lesions on farm, their trends over time, and benchmarks with provincial and national averages.

The effect of supplementing a rice diet providing about 1.3–1.4 g protein per kg body weight with lysine, methionine, and threonine individually or together on true digestibility coefficient (DC), biological value (BV), and net protein utilization (NPU) of the proteins has been studied in girls aged 8–9 years. The retention of nitrogen on the rice diet was very low (9.5% of intake in the first series and 8.5% in the second series). The BV and NPU of the proteins of rice diet were 64.1 and 52.9 in the first series and 66.6 and 54.9 in the second series. Supplementation of the rice diet with lysine or methionine or lysine + methionine brought about a significant improvement in N retention (12.6, 12.0, 13.5% of intake) and in the BV (68.3, 66.3, 69.3) and NPU (54.8, 55.7, 55.8). When the rice diet was supplemented with lysine and threonine, a highly significant improvement in the N retention (18.9% of intake) and in the BV (77.4) and NPU (63.4) was observed. Addition of methionine to rice diet containing lysine and threonine resulted in a further improvement in N retention, BV, and NPU of the diets. The net available protein (g/kg body weight) from the different diets were as follows: rice diet, 0.71; rice diet + lysine, 0.76; rice diet + methionine, 0.74; rice diet + lysine + methionine, 0.77; rice diet + lysine + threonine, 0.85; rice diet + lysine + threonine + methionine, 0.91; and skim milk powder diet, 0.96–0.98.

SUMMARY— The nutritive value of infant foods (prepared from buffalo milk) containing 10%, 12.5% and 15% protein and fortified with DL‐methionine has been studied in experiments with albino rats. The mean weekly growth rate of rats receiving milk food II (10% protein and 20% fat) and fortified with DL‐methionine was of the same order as those obtained with milk foods containing 12.5%, 15%, 22% and 26% protein. Milk food II containing 10% protein (not fortified with DL‐methionine) promoted significantly less growth than the same food fortified with DL‐methionine and other milk foods containing 12.5% to 28% protein. The protein efficiency ratio of the milk food fortified with DL‐methionine (4.0) was significantly higher than that (3.3) of the unfortified milk food at 10% level of protein in the diet. The results indicate that humanized milk food from buffalo milk containing about 12.0% protein and 20% fat and fortified with DL‐methionine will be suitable for feeding infants in place of full cream milk powder in developing countries where milk is in short supply. Adoption of the above formula for infant milk food manufactured in the country will help to double the output of infant food from the same quantity of buffalo milk without appreciable increase in cost.

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