Effect of Sulphur Supplementation on Methane Emission, Energy Partitioning and Nutrient Utilization in Goats

A study was designed to investigate the effect of sulphur supplementation (as sodium sulphate) on feed intake, nutrients digestibility, methane production and energy metabolism in goats. The experiment was conducted on 15 adult goats divided into three equal groups using a completely randomized design. Animals of T1 group served as a control with no additional sulphur, whereas, sulphur was supplemented @ 0.08 and 0.16 per cent of DM in T2 and T3 groups, respectively. The feeding trial was continued for 60 d. The feed intake and growth of the animals was similar (P>0.05) in all the three groups resulting in similar feed conversion ratio. The intake and digestibility DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF and ADF were not affected by sulphur supplementation. The sulphur supplementation also did not influence nitrogen metabolism in the goats. Dietary supplementation of sulphur resulted in 12.2 per cent reduction (P<0.07) in methane production (l/kg DM intake) in T3 group as compared to T1 (control) but energy partitioning was not affected. The data of the present study showed that dietary sulphur supplementation may help in reducing methane emission by ruminants.