Chemical composition and in sacco degradability of forest based fodders of Nagaland state of India in Mithun (Bos frontalis)

Abstract

The rumen degradation characteristics and effective degradability (ED) of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) of 18 different forestbased foliages were studied in three rumen fistulated Mithuns (Bos frontalis) using the nylon bag technique. The animals were fed with Paddy straw plus Napier fodder (50:50 on DM) ad libitum and 1.5 kg concentrate mixture daily. The mean values of the ED of DM and CP calculated for rumen outflow rates (5%·h-1, as average), showed a high variation (27.1 to 41% and 26.4 to 44.1%) for DM and CP respectively. Degradation of DM was negatively correlated with NDF and ADF content. The best prediction of the ED of DM was derived from the contents of neutral detergent fiber and "a" water-soluble DM (R2 =0.32 and 0.30 respectively). In the same manner, the best prediction of the ED of CP was derived from neutral detergent fiber and "a" water-soluble CP (R2 = 0.32 and 0.56 respectively). The study revealed that Thysanolaena agrostis, Emblica officinalis and Ficus hirta could be good sources of energy and that Curculigo recusvata, Dacynia indica and Ficus infectoria could be a medium source of bypass protein. NDF and water-soluble DM fractions of foliages are useful indicators of the effective degradability of DM and crude protein