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Livestock Research for Rural Development 17 (2)2005Guidelines toauthorsLRRD NewsCitation of this
 
 paper 
Feed resources of livestock in the Punjab, Pakistan
M Younas and M Yaqoob
 Dept of Livestock Management, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan younasah@fsd.paknet.com.pk ; yaqoob_jhang@hotmail.com
Abstract
Livestock improvement demands the efficient use of available feed resources. The provision of feeding stuffs of adequatenutritional quality is likely to be the most limiting factor in increasing livestock production in the developing countries. This paper reviews the extent of feed resources available and their potential in meeting the animal needs and maintaining their health status. It deals with the different aspects of fodder crops, concentrate feeding, range resources, non-conventional feedresources, and nutrient requirements of farm animals. It further delineates the strategies to cope with the future threatsconfronting the livestock sector.
Key words:
Feed resources, health, livestock, nutrients, Punjab
Introduction
The livestock sector is an integral part of agriculture in Pakistan. Livestock accounts for 37% of the agriculturalGDP and about 9% of the total GDP. This is derived from a livestock population of about 25.5 million buffaloes, 23.8 million cattle, 24.7 million sheep, 54.7 million goats, and 5.4 million other animals (EconomicSurvey 2003-04). Based on the previous census 13.1 million buffaloes, 9.38 million cattle, 6.14 million sheep,15.3 million goats, and 2.37 million other animals were found in the Punjab province.The livestock wealth of Punjab is well adapted to hot and humid conditions, tolerant to tropical diseases andgood converters of poor quality roughages into milk and meat. Yet despite the high yielding native meat andmilk breeding stock, little attempt has been made to select for quality animals. The same applies to the task of maintaining purebred lines or of breeding selectively for qualities adapted to local conditions. Any survivinganimal tends to be retained as member of the herd. Although survival is an essential quality, it should not be theonly motivation for rearing livestock. Survival of course, is the top priority for the animal itself. The first 70-75% of the nutrient intake goes to body maintenance. It is only after the nutrients necessary to maintain vital bodyfunctions are satisfied that secondary production attributes will be fulfilled. Yet such attributes are the reasonwhy at least in theory animals are raised by humans.The provision of feeding stuffs of adequate nutritional quality is likely to be the most limiting factor in increasinglivestock production, provided there is a market demand for the livestock products. This is not to suggest thataspects such as breed improvements and disease control are un-important. They should be consideredconcurrently. But in most situations, animal numbers and production will be controlled by feed supply. Breed
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improvement and health measures will have little effect unless nutritional requirements are met.Livestock improvement demands the efficient use of available feed resources. Factors like climate, agronomic practices, feed processing technologies and genetic variations ultimately affect the nutritive value of feed for livestock. Feeding resources and feeding systems of farm animals vary from one place to another. Feeding practices are governed by the farmer's land holdings, socio-economic status and marketing of livestock andtheir products. This paper deals with the extent of the feed resources available and their potential in meeting theanimal needs and maintaining their health status in the next decades in the Punjab province.
Feed resources
Feed resources available in the country can be divided into two main categories as Conventional FeedResources and Non-conventional Feed Resources. Conventional resources are grouped further into threecategories: viz; (i) green roughages, (ii) dry roughages and (iii) concentrates (Habib and Siddiqui 1994). Greenroughages include fodder crops, range grasses including shrubs and forbs, sugar beet tops, sugarcane tops,silages and tree leaves. Even in advanced countries where grains are fed liberally to the ruminants, forage stillcontributes about 75 % of the nutrients whereas in the countries where grain feeding in not very common,ruminants derive more than 95 % of their nutritional needs from roughage (Bulla et al 1977). Dry roughagesinclude hay, straws, stovers and hulls. Concentrates include cereal grains, oilseed cakes and meals, cereal bransand polishings, molasses and sugar beet pulp. Non-conventional feed resources have the potential to play amajor role in meeting the feed shortage in the years to come.
Fodder crops
The area under fodder production is about 3.35 million hectares out of a total cropped area of 21.85 million ha,in the country, producing more than 60 million tonnes of fodder (Economic Survey 2003-04). The area under fodder in Punjab is 2.03 million ha, with a production of 45 million tonnes of fodder crops with an average yieldof 22 tonnes/ha (Table 1), which is not sufficient, even to meet the maintenance requirements of the livestock.According to Bhatti (1995), the increase in milk production has resulted due to greater availability of greenfodder in the recent past. This is very much in line with the recommendations of the National Commission onAgriculture (NCA 1988) that suggested that "if all animals in milk receive a full diet which meet their dailyappetites without changing the feed mix i.e; maintaining the present low nutrition mix, this alone could increasemilk yield by 100 percent."
Table 1.
Total area under fodder crops during Rabi andKharif in the Punjab in previous years
YearArea, 000haProduction,000 tonnesYield/ha,in tonnes
2000-200120374593822.52001-200220524515122.02002-200320374504922.1
 Anonymous 2004
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The cultivated area in Punjab province is 12.43 million ha of the total reported area of 17.5 million hectares.Thearea under fodder production in the province is approximately 14 % of the cultivated area (Anonymous 2004).This figure is static because of the competition for the grain production to feed the growing population of thecountry. In fact, some workers have reported that the area for fodder production is decreasing because of theincrease in the area under grain and cash crops.Unless the fodder is taken as an essential crop and given a prime position in the cropping system, it can't boostthe productivity of the animals. The Government is spending more than Rs. 769 million on the import of milk and milk products every year (Economic Survey 2003-04). Increasing the domestic production not only willincrease per capita availability of milk but it will direct this huge amount of money to other goods and services.The meat prices are also soaring because of the extended prices of the feeds and feeding. By diverting dueattention to the aspects of fodder situation, making the pastures green can improve the status of fodder andforage situation in the province.About 80-90 % of the nutrients requirements of livestock are met from the fodder crops in the irrigated areas.During Rabi (winter fodders) fodders available from October through April include Berseem (
Trifoliumalexandrinum
), Barley (
 Hordeum vulgare
), Lucerne or Alfalfa (
Medicago sativa
, Mustard/Rape (
 Brassica spp
.), Oats (
 Avena sativa
), Raya (
 Brassica Juncea
) and Sugar cane (
Saccharum officinarum L.
) as awhole plant or tops.Kharif fodders(summer fodders) are grown from May through September. These include Cowpea (
Vignaunguiculata
), Dwarf elephant grass, Guar (
Cyamopsis tetragonoloba
), Jantar (Dhaincha), Maize (
 Zeamays
), Millet (
 Pennisetum typhoides
), Moth (
 Phaseolus aconitifolius
), Mung (
Vigna radiata
), Napier grass, Sorghum (
Sorghum bicolor 
), Sudex (Sadabahar), Sugar beet tops (
 Beta vulgaris
) and Swank (
 Pennisetum glaucum
). Table 2 indicates the area, production and yield of some major fodder crops reportedin the previous year.
Table 2.
The area, production and yield of various fodderscrops in Punjab during the year 2002-2003
Fodder CropsArea,000 haProduction, 000tonsYield/ha,kgs
Maize420883 2105Bajra (Millet)333181 544Jowar (Sorghum)235132 563Barley 4038 962
 Anonymous 2004
Concentrate feeds
Concentrates are high in energy and/or protein, low in fiber, and highly digestible. They are the expensive partof the animal feed and are used mostly in small quantities as supplements. These feeds include cereals, oil seedsand meals, cereals brans and polishings, molasses and sugar beet pulp. According to Habib and Siddiqui(1994), two local types of concentrates are common.Energy-rich (carbonaceous) including cereal grains (wheat, maize, barley, oats, sorghum, rice), wheat bran, rice polishing, molasses (sugar cane and sugar beet molasses), sugar beet pulp.
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