Increasing Dairy Cows Productivity through New Balanced Concentrate Feed: A Study in Bihar, India

The present study examined the effect of a new balanced feed on livestock productivity in Bihar in comparison to existing feeding practices. These included supplementing crop residues with either individual concentrate components or with commercial feed. The new balanced feed consisted of crushed grains (37%), cereal brans (30%), pulse husks (10%), oil cakes (20%) and minerals (3%). This resulted in higher (P<0.05) levels of metabolizable energy and digestibility compared to other commercial feeds. This new feed was introduced through a combination of participatory trainings on feeding and demonstrations on feed preparation and farm-based feeding trials on 1290 crossbred dairy cows. On an average, farmers were feeding 3.9 kg commercial and/or home-made feed per dairy animal/day adjusted to individual milk yields. After replacing the existing supplements with a reduced amount (3.3 kg) of new feed, average milk yield as well as fat and SNF contents increased (P<0.05) by 14, 14 and 4%, respectively. The dairy farmers reduced their cost of milk production and increased their revenue from increased milk sales simultaneously. The new balanced feed also showed better palatability and positive effects on health and reproductive performance in terms of animal appearance and early conception.