Dairy production and nutritional status of lactating buffalo and cattle in small-scale farms in Terai, Nepal

Y Hayashi, S Shah*, S K Shah*and H Kumagai

Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan
yoshiha@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
*Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, Tribhuvan University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal

Abstract

Ten small-scale farms were surveyed to identify the feeding traits, milk productivity and nutritional status of lactating buffalo and cattle in Terai, Nepal. Constituents and dry matter (DM) of feed supplied, body condition score (BCS), heart girth (HG), bodyweight (BW), milk yield (MY) and plasma metabolites were obtained in the pasture-sufficient, pasture-decreasing and fodder-shortage periods which were August, November and March, respectively. Milk yield of 305-day lactation was estimated by the MY of seven consecutive days a month. Rice straw and wheat bran were utilized as main basal diets throughout the survey. The variance of feed constituents among the periods induced different supplies of CP, NDF and TDN.

The average concentrations of CP and NDF in the buffalo feed were significantly higher in the pasture-sufficient period than in the other periods (9.6% vs. 8.0% and 65.3% vs. 62.1%, respectively, p<0.01). The corresponding content of TDN in the pasture-sufficient period was similar to that in the pasture-decreasing period (51.1% vs. 50.9%), and higher than that in the fodder-shortage period (51.1% vs. 49.4%, p<0.01). The average supply of TDN was lower in buffalo than in cattle (50.5% vs. 52.3%, p<0.05). The HG and BW of buffalo in the pasture-sufficient period was similar to those in the pasture-decreasing period, and higher than those in the fodder-shortage period (p<0.05). The MY of buffalo was significantly higher in the pasture-sufficient period than in the other periods (7.7 liters/day vs. 6.5 liters/day, on an average, p<0.01). No significant difference was observed in the 305-day MY of buffalo among the calving periods. However, the buffaloes in their second and above lactation had significantly higher 305-day MY than those in the first lactation (2032 liters vs. 1619 liters, on an average, p<0.05). The average concentration of BUN in buffalo was significantly higher in the pasture-sufficient period than in the other periods (p<0.01). The average BUN concentration was higher in buffalo than in cattle (13.4 mg/dl vs. 6.0 mg/dl, p<0.01), while the average contents of total cholesterol and NEFA were higher in cattle than in buffalo (267 mg/dl vs. 127 mg/dl and 0.25 mEq/liter vs. 0.19 mEq/liter, respectively, p<0.01). The various supplies of CP, NDF and TDN among the periods might have affected MY and nutritional condition in buffalo. It is likely that the higher supplies of CP for buffalo in the pasture-sufficient period improved the nutritional status for milk production.

Key words: Buffalo, cattle, milk production, Nepal, nutritional status

Introduction

Terai is a low-altitude, southern plain region of Nepal and considered as the country's main granary, even though it constitutes only about 14% of the country's total area. Dairy farming integrated with crop production is preferred by farmers in this region, and it has provided about 35% of the national milk production from improved breeds of buffalo and cattle in 2003. In Chitwan, farmers maintained about 35 thousand lactating buffaloes and 19 thousand lactating cattle with a combined production of 52 thousand MT of milk in 2003, which accounted for 4.1% of the national milk production (Agri-information and Communication Center Kathmandu, Nepal). Although Terai region is a major contributor to the domestic milk production, expensive rations and fodder shortages are common constraints attributable to small farm size (0.6 ha/farm) (Karki et al 1993; Sharma et al 1994). Recently, Hayashi et al (2004) reported the effects of pasture environments especially on cattle milk production in this region. Those parturitions  in the fodder-shortage period from March to May produced less milk than in the other periods. Although the effects of pasture and fodder environments on cattle dairy production in small-scale farms have been identified, a comprehensive study on dairy nutrition especially in buffalo remains obscure. Hence, the present study was conducted to identify the feeding traits for lactating buffalo and cattle in small-scale farms, and to determine the relationships among feeding traits, milk productivity and nutritional status of these animals in Terai, Nepal.

Materials and Methods

Location and climate

Ten small-scale farms with an adequate number of buffalo and a small number of cattle in lactation were selected for the survey from August 2003 to July 2004 in a village of Chitwan, Terai, Nepal. The village is situated 180 km southwest of Kathmandu, and milk production accounts for a large part of the local economy.

This region has a subtropical climate, and during the survey the average temperatures ranged from 29.7˚C in July 2003 to15.2˚C in January 2004.  Total rainfall over the same period was 2240 mm, and the average relative humidity was 87.1% (National Maize Research Center, Rampur, Nepal). The monthly lowest and highest precipitations during the survey were 0 mm in November 2003 and 549 mm in August 2003, respectively. There are three periods based on environments of pasture and fodder: the pasture-sufficient period, characterized by increased pasture from June to October; the pasture-decreasing period, characterized by decline of pasture due to rainless and cool climate from November to February; and the fodder-shortage period, characterized by scarcity of fodder with dry climate from March to May.

Data and sample collection

Lactating buffalo and cattle were tethered in cowsheds and hand-milked twice daily. Number, breed, age, parity and last calving date of the animals were recorded in August 2003. Average head and parity of lactating buffalo were 2.8 ranging from 1 to 6 and 4.6 ranging from 1 to 18, respectively. The breed of buffalo was Murrah-cross. Average head and parity of lactating cattle were 0.3 ranging from 0 to 2 and 4.7 ranging from 3 to 8, respectively. The breeds of cattle were Holstein-cross and Jersey-cross. Daily milk yield (MY) of each animal was recorded in seven consecutive days a month from August 2003 to July 2004. Milk yield of 305-day lactation from each animal was estimated using the equation of Wood (1969).

Feed resource samples from representative farms were collected with the records of dry matter (DM) supplied for each animal in August and November 2003, and March 2004. The samples were dried to measure DM content and ground to pass through a 1-mm sieve. Composite representative samples of feed resource were made by mixing of the same amounts of the original samples. Concentrations of DM and crude protein (CP) in the representative samples were analyzed by the method of AOAC (1990). Acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents of the samples were determined by the method of Van Soest (1973) and Van Soest et al (1991), respectively. Total digestible nutrient (TDN) of the samples were estimated using the following equations reported by Martin (1985) and Chandler (1990):

Concentrations of CP, NDF and TDN in total feed supplied for each animal were calculated from the amount of DM in each feed resource supplied and composition in the representative samples in each period.

Measurement of body condition score (BCS) assessed by the method of Ferguson et al (1994) and heart girth (HG), and blood sampling were conducted at the same time of feed collection. Body weights (BW) of buffalo and cattle was estimated by their HG using the following equation developed by Kumagai et al (2003):

BW of buffalo (kg) = 603 / (1 + 321e^-0.036HG(cm))
BW of cattle (kg) = 605 / (1 + 243e^-0.035HG(cm))

Blood plasma was collected after a centrifugation and stored at -20 ˚C for analyses of the metabolites. Total protein concentrations were determined by a refract meter (SPR-Ne, Atago Co., Ltd., Japan). Concentrations of albumin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), glucose, total cholesterol and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) were analyzed using diagnostic kits (Albumin-HRII, L type Wako UN, Glucose-HRII Wako, L type Wako CHO·H and NEFA-HR, Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd., Japan). Globulin concentrations were calculated by subtracting the concentrations of albumin from total protein.

Statistical analyses

Statistical analyses were conducted using Excel Statistics^TM (Esumi Co., Ltd., Japan). The differences in mean values of feeding traits, nutritional status and productivity according to the survey time, and the effects of calving period and parity on the 305-day MY in buffalo and cattle were analyzed by Student t-test and Duncan's multiple range test (1955).

Results

Dry matter and rates of roughage to supplements supplied for the buffalo and cattle are presented in Table 1.

All the farmers fed rice straw as a main basal diet for the animals throughout the survey, and its amount for buffalo was lowest in November (p<0.05). Native grass was also utilized as a roughage resource, and the buffalo was fed the highest amount in August (p<0.01). However, the grass was not supplied for both the buffalo and cattle in November. Although bamboo leaf, corn stover and mustard straw were fed as alternative roughage, the amount was large neither in November nor in March. Wheat bran was fed as a main supplemental feed for both the animal species. Brewery waste, commercial feed, corn flour and rice polish were also fed as supplemental feeds for the animals. The amounts of wheat bran and commercial feed for buffalo were higher in November than in August and March (p<0.05).

Concentrations of CP, NDF and estimated TDN of the feed resources are presented in Table 2.

Bamboo leaf had the highest content of CP among the roughage resources. The lowest NDF and the highest TDN among the roughage were 50.0% and 71.4% in native grass, respectively, on an average. Commercial feed contained the highest concentrations of CP and TDN among the supplements showing 23.8% and 68.7%, respectively, on an average. The average concentrations of CP in wheat bran and brewery waste were 16.3% and 20.9%, respectively, which were higher than those in corn flour and rice polish showing 11.2% and 14.4%, respectively. Commercial feed contained higher CP in August than in November and March.

Estimated concentrations of CP, NDF and TDN in total feed supplied for the buffalo and cattle are presented in Table 3.

The average concentrations of CP and NDF in the total feed given to buffalo were higher in August than in November and March (p<0.01). The corresponding content of TDN in August was similar to that in November, and higher than that in March (p<0.01). No significant difference was observed in the supplied concentrations of CP and NDF between buffalo and cattle showing 8.5% and 7.9% in CP, and 63.1% and 65.6% in NDF, respectively, on an average. However, the corresponding content of TDN was significantly lower in buffalo showing 50.5% than in cattle showing 52.3% on an average (p<0.05).

Parity, BCS, HG, BW, lactation days and MY of the buffalo and cattle are presented in Table 4.

The HG and BW of buffalo were higher in August and November than in March (p<0.05). In contrast, the lactation days of buffalo were longer in March than in August and November (p<0.01). The buffalo yielded more milk in August than in November and March (p<0.01). The changes of lactation days and MY in cattle during the survey were similar to those in buffalo. The BCS, HG and BW were significantly higher in buffalo than in cattle (3.6 vs. 3.1 [p<0.05], 193 cm vs. 162 cm [p<0.01] and 459 kg vs. 329 kg [p<0.01], respectively, on an average).

Plasma metabolite concentrations of the buffalo and cattle are presented in Table 5.