Nutritional Evaluation of Hybrid Phalaris (Phylaris stenoptera) in Crossbred Growing Calves

An experiment was conducted using six crossbred growing calves of uniform age and body weight (4 to 6 months and 55.50±2.15 kg) to study the nutritive value of Hybrid Phylaris (Phylaris stenoptera), a cultivable fodder with strong resistance to severe drought and winter. Chemical analysis revealed that it was moderately rich in crude protein (15.05±0.03%) content with higher content of crude fibre (45.31±0.28%). Lower dry matter intake (1.62 kg/100kg body weight) indicates lower palatability of the fodder. DCP and TDN values (7.09 and 39.36%) of the fodder indicate lower TDN content of the fodder. It was concluded that hybrid phalaris can be utilized in calf ration but supplementation of concentrates was necessary to fulfill the energy requirements in growing calves.