aDepartment of Animal Husbandry Statistics and Computer Applications, Madras Veterinary College, TANUVAS, Chennai - 600 007, Tamil Nadu
bDepartment of Agronomy, VCRI, Namakkal – 637 001, Tamil Nadu
cDepartment of AHSCA, VCRI, Namakkal – 637 001, Tamil Nadu
dDepartment of Animal Nutrition, VCRI, Namakkal – 637 001, Tamil Nadu
Online published on 9 October, 2012.
This study has estimated the availability and requirement of green fodder for livestock of the Tamil Nadu state. Methodologies have been developed for estimating green fodder availability from the cultivated fodder, common property resources (CPR) and sugarcane tops. Requirement of green fodder was calculated based on two notions: (1) DM (dry matter) requirement of 2.50 per cent per ACU (adult cattle unit - 350 kg body weight) and (2) eight kg of green fodder per 100 kg of body weight. The total availability of green fodder in the state was of 32.86 Mt. The state's total green fodder comprised cultivated fodder (42.66%), CPR (30.30%) and sugarcane tops (27.04%). Total livestock population of the state was 8.15 million ACUs, of which 5.84 million ACUs (71.72%) were cattle and 1.49 million ACUs (18.24%) buffaloes, while sheep and goats were 0.41 million ACUs each (around 5%). As per the rule of 2.5 per cent of DM per 100 kg body weight, the total green fodder required for livestock was 29.73 Mt, indicating a fodder surplus of 3.12 Mt in the state. However, as per the requirement of eight kg of green fodder per 100 kg body weight, the total green fodder required was significantly higher (83.26 Mt), making the surplus status of earlier method swapped into a deficit of 50.40 Mt.
Green fodder, livestock, Tamil Nadu
