Comparative Evaluation of Urea and Effective Microbes Treated Finger Millet Straw on Feed Intake, Milk Yield and Composition of Lactating Crossbred Dairy Cows at BARC

The experiment was conducted at Bako agricultural research center to evaluate the effect of EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw supplemented with concentrate mix on feed intake, milk yield and composition of crossbred dairy cows. Four cows of same milk yield, body weight, stage of lactation, but differing parities were arranged in 4x4 Latin square design. The animals were provided with natural grass hay (T1), untreated finger millet straw (T2), EM2 treated finger millet straw (T3) and urea treated finger millet straw (T4) diet ad libitum and all treatments were supplemented with concentrate mix. Results of chemical analysis of the treated finger millet straw showed that the treated straw had good nutritive value. The daily dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) intakes were significantly (P<0.001) different among the treatments with the highest intake observed for cows fed EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw (T3 and T4). Milk yields varied significantly among the dietary treatments with the lower mean milk yield recorded for cows in T1 and T2 as compared to those in T3 and T4. This study indicated that EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw diet increased the net return. Feeding EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw with concentrate mix was found to be an effective approach to maximize the utilization of locally available feed resources for relatively high animal productivity during the dry season for small scale dairy keepers in rural areas. Therefore, the result demonstrated that EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw had better feeding value as compared to untreated finger millet straw and natural grass hay for lactating crossbred dairy cows.