Department of Animal Sciene, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, India
*Present Address : AICRP on Agri. Industrial Byproducts, Haryana Agricultural University Hisar, 125004
Online published on 20 January, 2012.
Urea straw/husk products (USP) were prepared by complexing partially acid hydrolyscd rice straw or husk with urea by autoclaving at different pressure levels applied for various intervals of time. Optimum binding (45.75 to 52 per cent) was obtained when urea-straw was autoclaved with 1.5-2.0 N H2SO4 for 60 minutes at 1.05 kg/cm2 pressure. The significantly low ammonia release was associated with significantly higher microbial protein synthesis. The slowly released ammonia was entrapped efficiently by microbes resulting in significantly higher in-vitro DM and CF digestibility, indicating that USP can be utilised efficiently as livestock feed.
