Effect of Feeding Fresh Banana Plant Waste and its Silage on Dry Matter Intake, Nutrient Digestibility and Rumen Fermentation Parameters in Osmanabadi Kids

This study was conducted to evaluate the possibility of incorporating banana plant waste either fresh or as silage in the diet of small ruminants. To study the effect of fresh banana plant waste and its silage on the performance of Osmanabadi kids, 15 growing kids were randomly allocated into three groups (n=5) on body weight (16.0 kg) and age (8–11 months) basis. The fresh banana plant waste silage (FBPWS) was fed to one of the three treatment groups (T₃) and compared with groups fed fresh banana plant waste (FBPW; T₂) and sorghum straw (T₁) as source of roughage with concentrate mixture in the ratio of 55.8: 47.2 (T₁), 25.3: 74.7 (T₂) and 38.9: 61.1 (T₃). The DM and CP (%) content of FBPW and FBPWS were 8.60 and 8.84; 29.97 and 5.44 respectively, while silage had pH of 5.05. The DMI in T₂ (0.54%) and T₃ (0.98%) groups were significantly (P<0.01) lower than T₁ group (1.57%). When these roughage sources were supplemented with CFM, it supported daily gain (g/d) of 2.33 and 14.14 in T₂ and T₃ groups which indicated that these were maintenance type of roughages. There was no significant difference between treatments in any of the nutrient digestibility parameters. The DCP and TDN content (%) in T₁, T₂ and T₃ groups were 4.43 and 66.24; 9.96 and 73.50; 6.21 and 69.55 respectively. The pH values of rumen fluid of three groups were within the normal range of variations, whereas, TVFA levels were different among the treatment groups. Total nitrogen, TCA precipitable-N and soluble nitrogen levels were similar among groups. It is concluded that FBPW and FBPW silage due to their low DM level could not be a sole source of roughage in the diet of ruminants and require to be supplemented with either good quality hay or straw and CFM to meet the nutrient requirements to support growth.