In India, milk-producing ruminants are kept not just for milk but as a source of fuel, fertiliser, draught power and income. Many people are vegetarian, so milk provides a valuable source of animal protein and it is widely consumed by all sectors of society. Unfortunately the Indian dairy herd, although very large, is among the world's least productive. Milk production per animal averages 3-5 litres per day, only about 10 per cent of that achieved in Australia. Reproduction rates are also low. This poor performance is not just due to the Hindu reverence for cows, which means that old and unproductive cattle are not culled. There is also another problem - which applies to northern Australia as well - and that is the low nutritive value of much of the feed. In both areas, it is hard for the animals to digest and extract nutrients from the main pasture plants.
Considerable benefit could be achieved by providing animals in these circumstances with added nutrients - especially protein (of balanced composition) and lipids. However, actual absorption of nutrients given as a supplement is likely to be low because of the effect of the microbes in the rumen. Australian scientists have devised a way of protecting added nutrients in their passage through the rumen so that they are able to be digested further along the gut. This is termed protective nutrient technology. The nutrient supplements should be readily producible from easily available agricultural by-products.
The project aimed to establish and test the protective technology in Indian conditions, to convert readily available agricultural by-products into useful feeds that would survive passage through the rumen and thereby improve ruminant nutrition.
The work was divided into five sub-projects. The first developed better ways of protecting nutrients derived from by-products sourced in India and Australia. Protein and lipid-based nutrient supplements, manufactured in Australia, were assessed in vitro and in sacs inside the rumens of experimental animals under Indian conditions. The scientists evaluated the degree of protection of nutrient supplements from the effects of the rumen microbes. They also conducted small feeding trials and metabolic studies.
The second sub-project identified and evaluated the most appropriate Indian by-products for development of protein and lipid supplements. (Project participants already knew there were large quantities of cheap, nutritious potential raw materials in India.) The team also developed a pilot production plant for protected protein in India, while the third sub-project designed a pilot plant to produce protected lipid nutrients and screened lipid materials for on-farm and research-station feeding trials.
In the fourth sub-project, scientists conducted field trials in different regions (and climates) of India to determine whether the protected protein and lipid supplements would interact. They also undertook an economic evaluation of protected nutrient supplements and an assessment of the socio-economic impact on traditional village farmers of adopting the supplements.
In the final part of the work, the protection procedures developed earlier were tested in Australia, where the scientists sought and tested new unconventional agricultural by-products as possible sources of ruminant feeds. They also evaluated the efficiency, implementation cost and environmental effects of the new technology.
In trials undertaken in cows/buffaloes in the state of Gujarat (Western region), feeding 1 kg per day of by-pass protein supplements manufactured at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Anand, India, compared to 1 kg of untreated meal, increased milk yield, fat and protein content with a net benefit to village dairy farmers of 8 to 12 rupees per animal per day. Similar results were obtained in the Karnal (Northern) and Orissa (Eastern) and a smaller increase was observed in Kerala (Southern) region of India.
NDDB was home to a pilot plant, designed and constructed in Australia and commissioned in April 2001, that produced up to 150 kg per batch of by-pass protein meal. This plant produced rumen-by-pass proteins with 75% rumen un-degradable protein (RUP) from Indian indigenous by-products, i.e. sunflower meal, guar-bhardo and rapeseed meal, for the evaluation and feeding trials. The positive economic benefits of these trials led to the design, construction and operation of a commercial plant at Itola, Vadodara, capable of producing up to 50 tonnes per day of a by-pass protein feed supplement.
A socio-economic analysis of village dairy farmers who fed by-pass protein supplements indicated that the benefits and economic impacts at the village level were greatest for farmers milking buffaloes, followed by local cows and crossbred cows, with a net income increase of Rs12.41, Rs9.26 and Rs7.28 respectively per animal per day. Disposable income of village farmers increased significantly and this could improve living standards and provide greater purchasing power for women, who manage the day-to-day village dairy farms.
The positive economic returns from feeding by-pass protein led to the construction of a second commercial plant in Godhra in Gujarat state in December 2005. This plant is producing up to 50 tonnes of by-pass feed per day and is providing supplements for cows/buffaloes owned by tribal and marginalised small village farmers in this region of India.
An additional output has been the development of a slow-release ammonia source, which when used in combination with by-pass protein feed supplements lifts milk production a further 5-10 per cent. This new development is being incorporated into the current manufacturing plant(s) and will also be a feature of future plants (under consideration for the states of Punjab, Rajasthan, Orissa and Kerala). At a national workshop conducted at the NDDB in November 2003 a key recommendation was to develop a ration-balancing system suitable for village dairy farmers. NDDB developed the system, and it is now producing positive responses.
NDDB staff members have trained in Australia and India, learning to produce by-pass protein and lipid supplements, also techniques for quality control, nutritional evaluation, and occupational health and safety requirements. The methods developed at Sydney University/CSIRO to measure the rumen un-degraded and rumen degraded protein (RDP/RUP) content of proteinaceous feedstuffs have been adapted by NDDB and found superior and more accurate to the standard phosphate buffer procedure currently used. Plans are under way to adopt these methods as part of the National Feeding Standards for India. All methods used during the project have been described in a manual entitled: Methods of analysis of protected nutrient supplements for ruminants (published by ACIAR).
The NDDB has established an experimental unit to produce by-pass fat supplements derived from oilseeds/oils/meals. It is now producing small quantities of by-pass fats to evaluate their role and potential economic applications in India. As a result of the project NDDB now has a well equipped functional laboratory and highly trained staff in preparation for future R&D programs in feed technology, ruminant nutrition and analytical service.
Links:
[1] http://www.aciar.gov.au/country/India
[2] http://www.aciar.gov.au
[3] http://www.aciar.gov.au/programarea/Animal Health