Nutritional Status of Dairy Animals in Central Plain Zone of Punjab

The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status of lactating dairy animals in the Ludhiana and Kapurthala districts in the central plain zone (CPZ) of Punjab. From each district 2 tehsils/blocks were selected. From each Tehsil, 2 villages and from each village at least 10 farmers of different socio-economic status were selected. The feed and fodder samples (n=221) were collected from all the dairy farmers, while milk, faeces and spot urine samples (n=320) were collected from at least 2 lactating animals of each farm house. Farmers in Ludhiana district had higher (P<0.05) number of ACU as compared to Kapurthala district. Buffaloes as compared to cattle predominated (P<0.05) in both the districts (71.8 vs. 28.2%). The CP content of the TMR was higher (P<0.05) in Kapurthala district as compared to that in Ludhiana district (13.4 vs. 11.6%). Animals of Kapurthala district consumed more (P<0.01) feed and CP than the animals of Ludhiana district. But animals in Ludhiana district were offered more concentrate (P<0.05) than that in Kapurthala district and reverse trend (P<0.05) was observed in green fodder availability (43 vs. 60%). The milk urea-N was higher (P<0.01) in animals of Kapurthala district than that in Ludhiana district but milk yield was significantly high (P<0.05) in Ludhiana than Kapurthala district (7.2 vs. 5.7 kg/animal/d). It could be because of better nutrient utilization for microbial protein synthesis in the rumen as indicated by significantly (P<0.01) high purine derivatives excreted in the urine of animals in Ludhiana as compared to that of Kapurthala district. Reproductive problems like anoestrus and repeat breading were observed in 66.6 vs. 37.5% of farm houses in Kapurthala and Ludhiana district respectively, the main reason could be deficiency of minerals as indicated by the fact that only 14.3% of the farmers were feeding mineral mixture to their animals in Kapurthala as compared to 25% in Ludhiana district. It was concluded that the animals in the central plain zone of Punjab state were well fed with respect to macro nutrients but there is need to motivate the farmers regarding use of mineral supplements.