Natural fermentation of rice straw in bales and stack and its evaluation as livestock feed

The study was taken upto see the fermentation changes taking place in baled rice straw moistened with urea solution in comparison to conventional stacking method. Unchaffed rice straw treated with 3.5% urea (w/w) at 0,20,30 and 40% moisture was baled (3’ x 1.5’ x 1.25’) by using fully automatic stationery baler and kept in a shed for 9 days. Simultaneously, chaffed rice straw was treated with 3.5% urea (w/w) at 40% moisture and stacked in open for 9 days. The processed rice straw had higher crude protein and cellulose content but lower hemicellulose content than that of unfermented rice straw. There was a increase (P<0.05) in bacterial, fungal and actinomycetes population in processed straw as compared to unfermented rice straw. The microbial population was higher in stacked as compared to baled rice straw. The in vitro studies showed higher (P<0.05) NGP in fermented rice straw stack and bales as compared to unfermented rice straw. The in-sacco studies revealed higher (P<0.05) degradability of nutrients from straw processed by conventional stacking method as compared to baled rice straw. The digestion kinetic parameters for DM were also higher (P<0.05) in stacked as compared to baled straw. It was concluded that rice straw could also be fermented with urea in bales successfully and have significantly higher degradability than unfermented rice straw.