Low vs high and #8220;water footprint assessment and #8221; diet in milk production: A comparison between triticale and corn silage based diets

Abstract

The agriculture account is 92% of the global freshwater footprint, and 29% of this amount is used in animal husbandry to produce forage, to mix animal feed, for drinking of the animals and, at least, in the farm activities. In this trial we tested two diets whose production is characterized by different water consumption. Two homogeneous groups of milking cows were used to compare two different diets: standard feeding, with corn silage-based diet; and alternative feeding, with triticale silage-based diet. Both silages represented about 47% of diet composition. Diets were characterized by the same energy and protein content. Despite the lowest water consumption of the triticale silage group, no significant differences were observed between the groups on production level and on milk chemical composition.

A Comparative Study of the Role of Australia and New Zealand in Sustainable Dairy Competition in the Chinese Market after the Dairy Safety Scandals

“…New Zealand has actively expanded its dairy exports to China through the construction of a free trade zone, and the dairy trade has achieved zero tariffs. The duty-paid price of New Zealand milk powder is about 1000 US dollars per ton cheaper than that of EU milk powder, and the cost of exporting to China has been reduced by an average of 13.4 percent, which gives New Zealand dairy products an overwhelming advantage in the Chinese market, making China also the largest export market for New Zealand dairy products [22,31]. It also deepens the influence of New Zealand dairy products on the balance of supply and demand in the Chinese dairy market [28].…”

Water Footprint of Milk Produced and Processed in South Africa: Implications for Policy-Makers and Stakeholders along the Dairy Value Chain

“…However, the contribution of the various feed stuffs to dry matter and yield should not be overlooked. For instance, corn silage which is higher contributor to the blue water footprint can be replaced with triticale silage as it has been found to have low water footprints and high contribution to milk yield [34].…”

Impact of Irrigation on India’s Dairy Economy

“…Phansalkar [6] and Upali et al [7] have highlighted the crucial role of water in India's milk production. So far, most studies have explored the relationship between water and milk production by estimating the consumptive water use and further calculating water productivity in kg/m 3 [7][8][9][10]. However, these estimates do not distinguish between irrigation water from rainfall, wells, and canals, and give no assessment of the impact of different modes of water application on milk production.…”

“…Several studies have shown that groundwater irrigation provides easy access and greater water-control to the farmers, which leads to higher crop productivity and when compared to surface irrigation like canals, tanks, etc. [10][11][12][13][14].…”