14. Arrangements of Quality Fodder

Livestock  is  most  resilient  livelihood  for  adapting  to  drought  and  other calamities all over the world. Animals can be out migrated, fed on stored fodder or can be liquidated under most adverse conditions. To feed nearly 185 million cattle heads and  97  million  buffaloes  along  with  large  number  of  sheep  and goats in the prevailing drought condition seems extremely challenging. A large number  of  unproductive  male  and  female  cattle  are  bound  to  suffer  badly  as farmers   will prioritize saving their productive animals and all available resources will be deployed for their feeding.

During  drought,   availability  of  green  fodder  and  natural  grasses  is drastically reduced leading to infertility of animals which can be restored in 2-3 years  only.    Even  the  supply  of  crop  residue,  normally  used  as  maintenance ration, is reduced whereas demand is increased due to lesser supply of greens. To  mitigate/moderate the situation and to save the animals, following strategy may be adopted in coming months:

(i) Reduced  sown  area  under  paddy,  maize,  sorghum  (jowar),  pearl  millet and their curtailed productivity or poor growth of grasses will lead to shortages of fodder and feed.

(ii) As the sowing of main rabi fodder crops will start in October-November, catch crop of maize, bajra, sorghum, cowpea, bajra + cowpea, maize + cowpea and toria may be taken up after light showers during August-September.

(iii) Rapeseed and mustard, Chinese cabbage, gobhi sarson and maize may be sown in  September for fodder purpose wherever feasible. These crops will be harvested by November to facilitate the sowing of rabi cereals.

(iv) Under irrigated conditions, sowing of berseem with Chinese cabbage in last week of September may be taken up for early availability of fodder. Senji and lucern may be preferred over berseem cultivation.

(v) Dual purpose crops like barley (varieties RD  2715, RD 2035, RD 2522 and BH 75) may be sown in October. One cutting may be taken for fodder at 50-60   days   after   sowing   and   subsequent   regenerated   crop   left   for   grain production.

(vi) Oats may be grown in October as multicut fodder to ensure availability of green fodder for longer period.

(vii) For  quick  growth  in  cereal  fodders  and  higher  crude  protein  contents, application of urea as foliar spray may be taken up.

(viii) Looking to scarcity of crop residues, burning of paddy straw and stubbles should  not  be  allowed  in  Punjab, Haryana and UP.  A  preliminary  estimate indicates that about 20 million tonnes of rice straw is burnt in these three states alone which creates problem of environmental pollution. This can be properly harvested,   baled,   densified   and   fortified  using   4%  urea  or   molasses   and transported to areas of fodder scarcity. Standardised machinery for harvesting, baling, densification and fortification is available with Punjab Agro Federation and in the market. Some budget should be earmarked out of the calamity Relief Fund or National Calamity Contingency Fund for implementation of this plan on  priority.  Perennial  grasses like  Bhabhar  grass  (Eulaliopsis  binata),  guinea grass  (Panicum  maximum),  hybrid  napier, Dichianthium  annulatum,  Chloris gayana etc. which grow naturally during rainy season in different parts of the country can also be properly harvested, baled and fortified for animal feeding either  at  site  or  transported  to  scarcity  areas.  During  this year,  wheat  straw should also  not  be  burnt  in  Punjab,  Haryana  and  U.P.  It  should  be  properly harvested, baled and densified by machinery used for paddy straw. Stovers of maize  and  mustard  wherever  available  should  also  be transported  to  fodder scarcity areas. Soybean chaff can be mixed with other fodders up to the extent of 30 percent.

(ix) Sugarcane tops and dry sugarcane leaves from sugarcane growing areas may be transported, enriched for crude protein content and fed in scarcity areas. In areas where sugarcane crop is drying due to moisture stress, whole crop can be harvested and used as fodder.

(x) If deficit is very serious, sugarcane baggase and press mud may be treated and transported to deficit areas for survival feeding.

(xi) Partially damaged  wheat  grain  may  be  diverted  for  feeding  to  save  the productive  animals.  However,  substandard  wheat  having  very  high  aflotoxin content  should  be  avoided  as  the  same  may  result  in  abortion  in  pregnant animals.

(xii) Efforts  should  be  made  to  increase  the  production  of  supplements  like UMMB  (Urea  Molasses  Mineral Block) lick,  which  can  be  easily transported (as animal chocolate) to be offered to the animals along with crop residues to increase their palatability and digestibility. For utilizing residues of crops which are  normally not  fed  to  livestock,  the practice  of Total  Mixed  Ration  (TMR) should  be  propagated. Residues of such crops  can be incorporated  in  TMR at 10-15% level.

(xiii) Possibility of feeding of tree leaves after lopping and grazing of grasses in forest areas may be explored in consultation with Forest Department. Pods of trees like Prosopis juliflora can be collected and supplemented as feed source. These pods contain nearly 13% protein and 25-30% sucrose. In Gujarat, these pods are already used upto 30% of the total ration of the animals. Its' leaves can also  be  used  as  fodder  upto  10%  of the  ration.  Similarly,  leaves  and  fruits  of other trees such  as Leucaena leucocephala, Ailanthus  excels, Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora persica, Acacia spp., Albizia spp. etc. may be collected to supplement protein content in roughages and moderating fodder scarcity.

(xiv) Vegetable/fruit  wastes  may  be  collected  from  the  market  yards  and factories   processing   such   foods  (like  SAFAL).   These   are   generally  high moisture content feeds. In the moist form, these could be distributed to farmers around  the  factories.  After  sun-drying  these  could  be  transported  to  deficit areas.  The  nutritive  value  of these by-products  is  reported  quite  high.  Apart from  providing  additional  feed  resource,  such  type  of  recycling  also helps in reducing the environmental pollution.

(xv) Export of feed ingredients such as oil meals or de-oiled cakes etc. may be suspended  temporarily  and  diverted  for  surviving  the  productive  animals  in drought affected areas.

(xvi) Animal camps may be organized along nearby canals like Indira Gandhi Nahar of Rajasthan having adequate drinking water. Fortunately there are large number of canals in most of the states afflicted by drought-2009. Farmers along the  canals  may be  persuaded  to  cultivate  fodder  crops  only and  may even  be compensated suitably.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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