3. IN VITRO EVALUATION OF TREE FODDERS AS AN ALTERNATE FEED SOURCE USING –IVGPT

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of inclusion of tree fodder as cattle feed ingredient in TMR. Four TMRs were prepared by using tree fodders such as gliricidia leaves (Gliricidia sepium), moringa leaves (Moringa oleifera), desmanthus (Desmanthus virgatus) and jack leaves (Artocarpusheterophyllus) replacing the conventional ingredients on the basis of chemical composition. In vitro gas production technique (IVGPT) was done for evaluation of the TMR. The concentrate to roughage ratio of the ration was maintained as 50:50. The proximate analysis revealed that tree fodder can be incorporated in cattle TMR both as protein and fibre source IVGPT results indicated that the in vitro dry matter digestibility, organic matter digestibility and microbial bio mass production was maximum in TMR-1(TMR containing gliricidia leaves). Methane production was seen minimum in TMR-4. Among the four TMRs tested TMR-1 containing Gliricidia produced best results and hence can be incorporated in cattle TMR andhence it can be concluded that Gliricidia leaves can be incorporated in the cattle ration with improved rumen fermentation potential.

Key words : IVGPT, Gliricidia, TMR