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Performance of Dairy Cows on Green Fodder Maize Based Ration in Coastal Hot
and Humid Climate

Article in ANIMAL NUTRITION AND FEED TECHNOLOGY · May 2012

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 Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2012) 12 : 265-270

Short Communication

Performance of Dairy Cows on Green Fodder Maize

Based Ration in Coastal Hot and Humid Climate
P.K. Naik*, B.K. Swain, E.B. Chakurkar and N.P. Singh

ICAR Research Complex for Goa, Old Goa-403 402, India

(Received January 11, 2011)

ABSTRACT
Naik, P.K., Swain, B.K., Chakurkar, E.B. and Singh, N.P. 2012. Performance of dairy cows on green
fodder maize based ration in coastal hot and humid climate. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 12:
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265-270.
Ten crossbred dairy cows (avg. BW 276.80±11.51 kg) were divided into two groups i.e. control
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group (CG) and treatment group (TG) of five animals in each to find out the effect of feeding green fodder
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maize as replacement of concentrate mixture on their performance. The animals of CG were offered daily
4 kg concentrate mixture (CM) along with 1 kg fresh green fodder maize and ad lib. jowar straw; while
in TG, 50% of the CM as offered in the CG was replaced by 20 kg fresh green fodder maize. The total
DM intake in both the groups was in the range of 10.20-10.33 kg/day, and was similar (P>0.05) between
the two groups. There was difference (P<0.05) in roughage: concentrate ratio of the total rations in CG
(61.27: 38.73) and TG (80.36: 19.64). The milk yield (4.83 vs 4.87 kg/day) and 4% FCM yield (4.41
vs. 4.12 kg/day) of the animals of the CG was similar (P>0.05) to TG. There were no differences (P>0.05)
in the milk compositions i.e. fat (3.49 vs 3.01%) and SNF (8.88 vs 8.51%) content of milk between the
two groups. There was no difference (P>0.05) in the CP% of the diets. The DCP content of the CG
(6.59%) was however higher (P<0.05) than that of the TG (5.36%); but the TDN content of the TG
(62.21%) was higher (P<0.05) than the CG (57.18%). The net cost (Rs.) of feed in TG (97.53) was lower
than the CG (125.74). Based on the 4% FCM yield, the cost of milk was similar in both the groups. There
was higher net profit of Rs. 17.99 per animal per day due to replacement of concentrate mixture by green
fodder maize. It was concluded that dairy cows yielding around five kg milk daily, 1 kg concentrate mixture
can be replaced by 10 kg green fodder maize without affecting the daily milk yield.

Key words: Cows, Concentrate, Climate, Dairy, Feeding, Fodder, Goa, Maize.

INTRODUCTION
The farming system of Goa mainly consists of small number of animals integrated
with horticultural crops like cashew, areca nut or coconut cultivation. Productivity of

*Corresponding author: Dr. P.K. Naik; E-mail: pknaikicar@gmail.com

265
 Naik et al.

dairy animals in Goa is low because of the hot and humid condition coupled with the
feeding of low quality roughages with small quantity of concentrates. Fodder production
in separate land is hardly practiced for feeding of dairy animals. However, maize (Zea
mays L.), a non-leguminous green fodder can be well cultivated as intercropping with
the cashew (Naik et al., 2011) or other crops and can be used as a potential green fodder
for dairy animals (Singh et al., 2011). Therefore, an experiment was planned to find out
the effect of feeding green fodder maize as replacement of concentrate mixture on the
performance of dairy cows.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was conducted in the farm of the institute situated 15o 30’ N, 73o 55’E
and 16 m above mean sea level during March to April, when ambient temperature,
relative humidity and rainfall were 19.7-39.7oC, 38-95% and 3.8 mm, respectively.
Maize was sown in different plots at the interval of 15 days to maintain the stage of
harvestation (45 days after sowing). Ten dairy cows (avg. BW 276.80 kg; avg. milk
yield 4.71 lit./day; avg. lactation number 3.5, avg. lactation days 113) were divided into
two groups i.e. control group (CG) and treatment group (TG) of five animals in each,
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based on body weight, milk yield, lactation number and lactation days. All the animals
were kept under loose housing system with individual feeding and drinking facility.
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Conventional concentrate mixture (CM) containing maize grain 35, rice polish 17, soybean
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meal 22, cotton seed cake 23, mineral mixture 2 and common salt 1 parts by weight was
prepared. The calculated DCP and TDN content of the CM were approximately 16 and
75%, respectively (Ranjhan, 1998). Randomlly, animals of CG were offered daily 4 kg
CM along with 1 kg green maize and jowar straw ad lib.; while in TG, half of CM as
offered in CG was replaced by 20 kg green maize on DCP basis and thus, animals in
TG were offered 2 kg CM along with 20 kg green maize and jowar straw ad lib. The
nutrient requirements of animals of both groups were fulfilled (Ranjhan, 1998) and
feeding trial was conducted for a period of 45 days. The daily ration was offered twice
daily in equally divided doses, while clean drinking water was made available thrice
daily. The BW of animals were recorded fortnightly for two consecutive days before
offering feed and water in morning and the mean values were used as actual BW. The
feed offered and residues left were recorded daily. Milking of the animals was performed
twice daily at 7 AM and 4 PM by machine milking and the milk yield was recorded daily
at each milking by using digital balance. Milk samples were collected for analysis
weekly from individual cow after thorough mixing of the milk.
The feeds and fodder offered were analyzed for proximate principles (AOAC,
2000). Milk composition i.e. fat and solid not fat (SNF) were analyzed by milk analyzer.
The 4% fat corrected milk (FCM) yield was calculated by the formula provided by NRC
(1989). Feed conversion ratio was calculated as ‘kg intake per kg FCM production per
day’. The data were analyzed statistically for the test of significance (Snedecor and
Cochran, 1994).

266
 Performance of dairy cows on green fodder based diet

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The chemical composition of concentrate mixture was as per the BIS specifications
of compounded cattle feed (Table 1). The chemical composition of fodder maize was
similar to findings of the earlier workers (Singh and Chaudhary, 2007; Naik et al.,
2011). Jowar straw was used as a main source of roughage and chemical composition
was similar to other roughages like paddy straw and wheat straw (ICAR, 1998).
The intake of concentrate mixture in TG was lower than CG, while intake of
fodder maize on dry matter (DM) basis in TG was higher than CG (Table 2). The higher
(P<0.05) intake of jowar straw in CG (6.11 kg/day) than TG (3.80 kg/day) was due

Table 1. Chemical composition (on % DM basis) of feeds and fodder

Parameters Concentrate mixture Fodder maize Jowar straw

Crude protein 21.68 11.14 3.40

Ether extract 4.83 2.20 0.84
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Crude fiber 8.39 22.25 34.19

Nitrogen free extract 58.27 53.54 52.43
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Total ash 6.83 9.84 9.14

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Acid insoluble ash 1.16 1.03 5.32

Table 2. Effect on dry matter intake and body weight changes of animals

Parameters Control Group Treatment Group

Mean BW 300.60±18.30 265.17±9.46

DM intake (kg/day)
Concentrate mixture 4.00 2.00
Fodder maize 0.22 4.40
Jowar straw 6.11±0.04 b
3.80±0.20a
Total roughage 6.33±0.04 a
8.20±0.20b
Total DM 10.33±0.04 10.20±0.20
Intake/100 kg BW 3.49±0.22 3.86±0.14
Roughage (%) 61.27±0.15a 80.36±0.37b
Concentrate (%) 38.73±0.15b 19.64±0.37a

BW changes (kg)
Initial 294.00±18.14 259.60±10.90
Final 307.19±19.42 270.74±8.58
Net gain 13.19±8.58 11.14±5.19
ab
Means bearing different superscripts in a row differ significantly (P<0.05).

267
 Naik et al.

to restricted offering of green fodder in that group. However, the total DM roughage
intake in TG (8.20 kg/day) was higher (P<0.05) than CG (6.33 kg/day), which might
be due to the higher palatability and stimulating effect of the green fodder maize for more
feed intake (Singh et al., 2007). In milch animals, the total dry matter intake is highly
influenced by the daily milk yield and milk compositions, which may be up to 15-20
kg/day (Saijpaul et al., 2005). In this study, the total DM intake (kg/day) and DM intake
(kg/100 kg BW) of the animals in both the groups ranged between 10.20-10.33 and 3.49-
3.86, respectively, which were similar to the findings of Saha et al. (2002) in crossbred
cows fed on locally made concentrate mixture, hybrid napier grass and paddy straw.
During the experimental period, there was gain in BW of animals in both the groups and
was similar (P>0.05), which indicated well utilization of both the feeds and no adverse
effect of the treatment feed on the health of the animals. There was difference (P<0.05)
in the roughage: concentrate ratio of the total rations in CG (61.27:38.73) and TG
(80.36: 19.64).
During the study, the milk yield (4.83 vs 4.87 kg/day) and 4% FCM yield (4.41
vs 4.12 kg/day) of the animals of the CG was similar (P>0.05) to the animals of TG
(Table 3). Further, there were no differences (P>0.05) in the milk compositions i.e.
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fat% (3.49 vs 3.01) and SNF content (8.88 vs 8.51%) of milk between two groups, but
were within normal range and similar to findings of other workers (Naik et al., 2009).
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The milk yield and its fat content are generally influenced by various dietary factors, of
which that influence the most is roughage: concentrate ratio. (Sawal and Kurar, 1998;
Santra and Karim, 2009). Increase in intake of concentrate, total feed and milk, decreases
milk fat content (Oldenbrock, 1979). In this study, although there was difference (P<0.05)
in the roughage: concentrate ratio between CG and TG, the effect of the different
roughage: concentrate ratio was not reflected on the milk yield and fat content, which
might be due to the low production level of the animals.
There was no difference (P>0.05) in the CP% of the diets between CG and TG
(Table 4). The DCP% of the CG (6.59) was higher (P<0.05) than the TG (5.36), which

Table 3. Effect on milk yield and milk composition of animals

Parameters Control group Treatment group

Milk yield
Milk (L/day) 4.69±0.47 4.72±0.43
Milk (kg/day) 4.83±0.49 4.87±0.44
4.0% FCM (kg/day) 4.41±0.30 4.12±0.36

Milk composition (%)

Fat 3.49±0.24 3.01±0.30
SNF 8.88±0.09 8.51±0.37
CLR 30.20±1.05 31.23±0.49

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 Performance of dairy cows on green fodder based diet

Table 4. Effect on nutritive value, feed conversion ratio and economics of feeding of animals

Parameters Control group Treatment group

Nutritive value of diet (%)

CP 10.64±0.03 10.33±0.13
DCP 6.59±0.03b 5.36±0.09a
TDN 57.18±0.05 a
62.21±0.33b

Feed conversion ratio (kg feed/kg 4% FCM)

DM 2.39±0.18 2.57±0.28
CP 0.26±0.02 0.25±0.02
DCP 0.16±0.01b 0.13±0.01a
TDN 1.37±0.10 1.56±0.16

Economics of feeding
Cost of feed 125.74±0.28b 97.53±1.45a
Cost of milk (Rs. 36.00/kg FCM) 158.69±10.89 148.46±12.99
Net profit/animal/day 32.95±10.78 50.94±13.67
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ab
Means bearing different superscripts in a row differ significantly (P<0.05).
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might be attributed to the higher DCP content of the concentrate mixture than the green
fodder maize (Ranjhan, 1998). However, the TDN% of the TG (62.21) was higher
(P<0.05) than the CG (57.18). This was due to the higher intake of the green maize
fodder, which is a good source of TDN. Singh et al. (2007) also observed similar trend
in DCP% (6.7 vs. 6.1) and TDN% (57.8 vs. 60.3) in lactating crossbred cows fed
without and with 20 kg green fodder maize daily.
The cost (Rs.) of the feed in TG (97.53) was lower than the CG (125.74), which
was due to the higher level of inclusion of green fodder maize in the ration. Earlier
workers also suggested for feeding of green fodder for economic milk production (Saijpaul
et al., 2005). The cost of milk was similar in both the groups based on the 4% FCM
yield. There was higher net profit of Rs. 17.99 per animal per day due to replacement
of concentrate mixture by green fodder maize.
It was concluded that dairy cows yielding around 5 kg of milk daily, one kg
concentrate mixture can be replaced by 10 kg green fodder maize without affecting the
daily milk yield provided that the bulk of the animal should be fulfilled by ad lib.
roughage like jowar straw.

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 Naik et al.

Naik, P.K., Chakurkar, E.B., Manjunath, B.L., Swain, B.K. and Singh, N.P. 2011. Production potential
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