Methane Emission from Sahiwal Cows on Dietary Supplementation of Fumaric Acid as a Feed Additive

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of supplementation of fumaric acid on feed intake, nutrient digestibility and methane emission in lactating Sahiwal cows. Eleven cows divided into 2 groups of 5 (control group) and 6 (treatment) fed on a diet containing 3 kg concentrate mixture and chopped maize fodder (Zea mays). However, treatment group was supplemented with fumaric acid @ 2% of total dry matter intake (DMI). After an adaptation period of 21 days on experimental diets, nutrients digestibility and methane emission as a result of enteric fermentation was determined. Dry matter intake (kg/d) and nutrient digestibilities were similar in both the groups. The milk yield (kg/d) in groups I and II was 3.82±1.32 and 4.18±0.69, respectively. Methane emission (g/day) was higher (P>0.05) in control group (144.48±7.17) than in treatment group (119.85±8.98) which revealed that diet supplementation of 2 percent fumaric acid reduced the methane emission by 20.7% without affecting the dry matter intake and nutrient digestibility. It was concluded that dietary supplementation of fumaric acid @ 2% dry matter intake reduced the methane emission from Sahiwal cows and improved their productivity.