**5. Forage banking and meeting feed scarcity**

Preservation of forage as hay and silage is intended at banking during surplus to meet the scarcity during unavailability or natural calamities. In other words, these technologies would evenly and adequately supply the bulk of feeding to livestock, thereby insulating any drop in production. Feeding hay or silage to livestock helps reduce the amount of concentrate feeding and thereby the cost of feeding. The concept of haylage, mixed silage and TMR silage has widen the scope of feed banking and nutritional optimization for higher productivity. Silage making is not only a process of feed preservation but it also preserve nutrients, phytogenic substances, succulence and completeness of a ration, thereby further the scope of feed and nutrient banking.
