Urea molasses mineral block and Roughage block feeding of livestock in hilly areas of Jammu Azad M.S.1,*, Singh Rajeev1, Bali A.S.2 Sher-e-kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu Main Campus Chatha, Jammu (J&K), India Present Address: 1Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine & Jr., F.V.Sc. & A.H.
2Department of Agronomy, F.O.A, Chatha, Jammu
* Corressponding Author: Email: mandeepsinghazad@gmail.com
Online published on 23 January, 2012. Abstract Livestock is one of the most important and sustainable livelihood source for farmers in hilly areas of Jammu (J&K). Fodder scarcity is main hurdle in these areas and mainly in winter season there is almost no green fodder left in the hills so an attempt was made to popularize UMMB technology among farmers and to provide feed supplementation in the form of UMMB (urea molasses mineral bricks) and roughage blocks under NAIP-Doda project. The area of operation was mainly the Assar cluster. Most of the cattle of this area are local X jersey and local X HF cross. A group of 30 animals were selected and were divided into treatment group of 25 animals and control group of 5 animals. These animals included healthy animals, low producing animals, emaciated animals, few anoestrus and repeat breeding showing animals. These UMMB and roughage blocks were distributed among the adopted village farmers and timely observations were made to see its effect on feed intake, water consumption, milk production and overall health status of animals. Regular and timely follow up was made to know the reaction of the farmers to this newly introduced technology. Results of the study showed that the use of UMMB and roughage blocks improved overall health status of animals, milk yield increased to about 1.5–2kg in healthy animals. Animals showing incidence of anoestrous and repeat breeding were now coming in heat and conceiving successfully. The results of the technology were almost immediate and observable. It was concluded that farmers are ready to adopt this technology. Top Keywords Urea molasses mineral block, Roughage block, Doda, Kishtwar. Top |