Abstract
A survey study and four experiments were conducted in 2 river basin areas (Jamalpur and
Kurigram districts) and one coastal area (Noakhali district) with aims to identify fodder
production and feeding situation, cultivation of HYV gcx)d quality forages, intrcRiuction of
forage preservation system, impact of ftæding good quality forages to dairy cows on milk
production and development of simple model of forage production & feeding round the year.
Survey study was conducted on 60 farmers, 20 from each upazila and 2 upazilas from each
district. The results showed that farming was the principal oæupation of Lhe people in the
areas, shortage of quality feeds and forages, and milk production was very low during
Monsoon and Winter seasons. The 2nd experiment was conducted mainly to select suitable
cultivation system for increased yield Of HYV fodders. It was found that Napier grass
(Pennisetum perplllvmn) and Black gram (Vigna mungo) fodder grew well in farmers' field as
intercrops and single crop with biomass yield Of 159 and 166 MT/ ha, respectively for Napier
and 11 and 14 MT/ ha for Black gram fodder. Dry matter and CP contents of Napier grass were
16%, and 11% as intercrop and single crop while those of Black gram were 22% and 25%,
respectively, The 3rd experiment was conducted to find firstly a suitable method of silage
making with Napier grass and also preparation of hay with black gram fodder, and secondly to
conduct 3 animal feeding trials in 3 seasons of the year to investigate the impact of feeding
preserved forages on milk yield of cows. Silage was made following four methods: Bamboo
Dole, Polythene bag, Plastic drum and pit and found that Bamboo Dole, Plastic drum and
pit gave good quality Silage. Each of the 3 animal feeding experiments were conducted on
twenty cross-bred dairy cows dividing into 2 groups one fed existing diet and Other group fed
existing diet supplemented with either silage in Winter or hay in Monsoon or fresh Napier grass
in Summer for 60 days. Feed intake and digestibility of 0M and CP were significantly (p<0.05)
increased in Winter and Monsoon due to supplementation with silage and hay however, in
Summer feed intake did not differ but 0M and CP digestibility were significantly (p<0.05)
increased due to supplementation. Irrespective of the season milk yield were significantly
er in interventional feeding than those of the existing feeding. Considering
(p<O.OI) high
seasonal variation, milk yield was significantly (p<0.05) higher in Summer than of
Monsoon and Winter while the yield in Winter was significantly (p<O.05) higher than in
Monsoon. There were no variation in milk composition due to feeding intervention. The
analysis showed that profit per cow per day were the highest (Tk. 96) in Winter and
lowest (Tk. 63) in Monsoon and Tk. 79 in Summer. In experiment 4, considering the findings of
fodder production, silage and hay making and animal experiments, a simple model of forage
growing and feeding was developed for year round fodder supply to dairy cows for increased
milk yield especially during forage scarcity periods. The model involves the calculation of non-
legume and legume forage requirement of one cow, the area of land needed to grow that
quantities, the amount of green forages required for silage and hay making and finally the
feeding periods of each of silage, hay and fresh grass in cyclic pattern to cover one complete
year. It may be concluded that BLRI Napier 3 may be grown by intercropping with Black gram
fodder for making silage following Bamboo Dole method (less costly) with Napier and for
making hay with Black gram fodder for feeding as supplements with existing diets during
Winter and Monsoon, respectively for increased milk yield. Forage growing and feeding model
as suggested might be easy to adopt by the farmers for year-round forage supply to dairy cows