**4. Feeding innovations (cost-effective feeding strategies)**

Steady supply of quality feed and fodder assures productivity enhancement. Feeding constitutes about 60–70% of total cost of milk production in dairying. Feeding management plays a crucial role in exploiting real potential of dairy animals. Balanced feed (green and dry fodder along with concentrate ration) proves beneficial for sustainability as well as profitability of the farm. Fodder both green and dry needs to be grown inside the farm. High yielding fodder varieties like Bajra, Napier hybrids, Maize, Sorghum can be grown in fertile and well irrigated land, while Guinea/Rye grass can be grown in barren rain-fed land. In draught prone areas, planting of local fodder trees will sustain the animal production during scarcities. Some trees like *Prosopis cineraria, Leucaenale ucocephala* & *Moringa oleifera* are gaining popularity among fodder due to their high nutritional value. Further, slight improvement in animal nutritional status with additional supplementation can improve animal productivity with mere addition of cost. Different types of Animal Feed Innovations, easily applicable at every farm are discussed here in this chapter.

#### **4.1 Baled silage**

Silage, method of preserving surplus green fodder, predominantly adopted on large dairy farms as far as tropical countries are concerned. It is the product of controlled fermentation of green fodder retaining high moisture content. Many countries are propagating tube silage or bag silage, as one of the innovative technique of silage making, introduced for a marginal dairy farmer possessing one-two dairy animals and limited fodder acreage. Standard plastic tube/polythene bags of recyclable material are available in markets in India with a capacity of producing 500–1000 kg of silage. Baled silage is the latest upgraded innovation of fodder conservation. In this, forage is baled at higher moisture than forage to be stored as dry hay. The sealed airtight plastic bales remain sealed until they are required. The high moisture and lack of air promote fermentation within the sealed bale that preserves forage quality. Such baby corn silage bales of 50 kg are available for sale at a reasonable price on online portals like Indiamart.com.

### **4.2 Rumen inert protein (bypass protein)**

Protein meals are subjected to suitable physical/chemical treatment, energy and nitrogen balance gets improved with only marginal increase in treatment cost. Chemical or heat treatments are the main methods used for protecting proteins. In this technique, part of the protein is not degraded in the rumen and it can be utilized more efficiently in the small intestine. This rumen inert protein commonly known as Bypass protein, that is a misnomer. This protein supplies more essential amino acids at the intestinal level, which can lead to increase in milk yield by 10–15% and growth rate by 20–25%.

### **4.3 Bypass fat**

Dietary fat, that resists lipolysis and bio-hydrogenation in rumen by rumen microorganisms, but gets digested in lower digestive tract, is known as bypass fat or rumen protected fat or inert fat. Among all forms of bypass fat, calcium salts of long chain fatty acids (Ca-LCFA) has highest intestinal digestibility and act as an additional source of calcium. A simple cost effective indigenous technology has been developed for the preparation of bypass fat (Ca-LCFA) using vegetable fatty acids. Ration of the high producing animals should contain 4–6% fat, which should include fat from natural feed, oil seed and bypass fat in equal proportions. Bypass fat supplementation has proved beneficial without any adverse effect on the rumen fermentation, feed intake, digestibility of nutrients and different blood parameters of the dairy animals. Rise in milk is recorded by 5.5–24.0%. Improvement in post-partum recovery and reproductive performance of dairy animals are the added advantages of this innovation.

#### **4.4 Total mixed ration**

The term total mixed ration may be defined as, "The practice of weighing and blending all feedstuffs into a complete ration which provides adequate nourishment to meet the needs of dairy cows." Each bite consumed contains the required level of nutrients (energy, protein, minerals and vitamins) needed by the cow. A 4% increase in feed utilization, greater accuracy in formulation and feeding, masking of the flavor of less palatable feeds (urea, limestone, fats, and some by-pass protein sources) and use of commodity ingredients can be expected while using TMR. While blending all the feeds together in a TMR, over mixing and under mixing of ingredients need to be avoided.
