One low cost and two premium type sorghum stover purchased from fodder market in Hyderabad, India were investigated for Organic matter intake (OMI), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and organic matter intake and digestible organic matter intake (DOMI) with feeding trials on sheep. The average price of low cost stover was IRs 2.04 per kg dry stover while the premium stover types were priced at IRs3.40. Premium stover had consistently more favourable laboratory quality traits (nitrogen, fiber constituents, in vitro digestibility and metabolisable energy content). When fed to sheep unsupplemented, significantly higher digestibility, digestible organic matter intake and nitrogen balances were observed in premium type compared to low cost stover. The same held true when the three stover types were fed supplemented with a flat rate of 150 g/d of concentrate. However, economic assessment suggested that the price premiums of 50% and more paid for high quality stover were in excess unless their feeding facilitated overall increased intake and milk yield per dairy animal proportionally, decreasing feed expenditure for maintenance requirement

Blummel, M

Rao, P P

ICRISAT Open Access Repository

105A Note on the Response of Sheep to DifferentlyPriced Sorghum Stover Traded Concomitantly andImplications for the Economy of FeedingP. Parthasarathy Rao1* and M. Blümmel21International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid TropicsPatancheru-502 324, India2 International Livestock Research InstitutePatancheru-502 324, IndiaABSTRACTParthasarathy Rao, P. and Blümmel, M. 2010. A Note on the response of sheep to differently pricedsorghum stover traded concomitantly and implications for the economy of feeding. Animal Nutrition andFeed Technology, 10S: 105-111.One low cost and two premium type sorghum stover purchased from fodder market in Hyderabad,India were investigated for Organic matter intake (OMI), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and organicmatter intake and digestible organic matter intake (DOMI) with feeding trials on sheep. The average priceof low cost stover was IRs 2.04 per kg dry stover while the premium stover types were priced at IRs3.40.Premium stover had consistently more favourable laboratory quality traits (nitrogen, fiber constituents,in vitro digestibility and metabolisable energy content). When fed to sheep unsupplemented, significantlyhigher digestibility, digestible organic matter intake and nitrogen balances were observed in premium typecompared to low cost stover. The same held true when the three stover types were fed supplementedwith a flat rate of 150 g/d of concentrate. However, economic assessment suggested that the pricepremiums of 50% and more paid for high quality stover were in excess unless their feeding facilitatedoverall increased intake and milk yield per dairy animal proportionally, decreasing feed expenditure formaintenance requirements.Key words: Sorghum stover, Quality traits, Fodder, Economy.INTRODUCTIONSorghum stover is the major source of dry fodder for urban and peri-urban dairyproduction in Hyderabad, India (Tesfaye, 1998). The stover are traded extensively byfodder shops throughout the city and shops offer different types of stover at the sametime at different prices; the purchaser has usually the choice between two types of stoverand sometimes more. Blümmel and Rao (2006) surveyed six major stover traders monthlyfrom 2004 to 2005 and following laboratory analysis of the stover observed that stover Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2010) 10S : 105-111*Reprint request: Dr. P. Parthasarathy Rao, ICRISAT, Patancheru-502 324, India.106in vitro digestibility accounted for about 75% of the variation in stover prices, thoughother factors like season and location of the trader affected pricing. The poorest (47%in vitro digestibility) and best (52% in vitro digestibility) quality stover were sold onaverage for 3 and 4 IRs /kg dry stover, respectively, suggesting a price premium forquality stover of more than 30 per cent. The present work tested response in sheep feddifferently priced sorghum stover unsupplemented and in another trial supplemented witha flat rate of concentrate the latter reflecting approximately the level of concentratefeeding in dairies in and around Hyderabad (Tesfaye, 1998).MATERIALS AND METHODSThree different cultivars of sorghum stover (Telangana, Raichur and Andhra)were purchased from two traders in July 2004 and from three traders in May 2006.Several 100 kg of each stover - which were sold in chopped form – were purchased andpacked in Hessian bags and transported to ILRI livestock nutritional facilities located atICRISAT in Patancheru where the stover were air-dried prior to the feeding trials.Representative stover samples were collected from each Hessian bag and analyzedfor nitrogen content by Kjehldal, neutral and acid detergent fiber and acid detergentlignin by Goering and Van Soest (1970) and for in vitro digestibility and metabolisableenergy by Menke and Steingass (1988).Male growing Deccani sheep housed in metabolic cages facilitating urine andfaeces collection were used in the feeding trials. Two feeding trials were conducted, thefirst one with the batches of stover purchased in 2004 and which were fed as sole feedand the second one with the batches purchased in 2006 which were fed supplementedwith a flat rate of 150g (133 g DM) of concentrate. All stover were offered ad libitumallowing for about 15% of refusal. Groups of sheep were balanced according to liveweight and 6 sheep were allocated to any one treatment. Sheep were adjusted to atreatment for two weeks followed by a 10-days urine and faeces collection period.Analysis of variance and differences between treatment were analyzed with theGeneral Linear Model procedure of SAS (1988) for the data shown in the tables.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe two traders at Azampura and Amberpet sampled in July 2004 each offeredthe same low cost stover type (Telangana) at the same fresh price of IRs1.70 /kg whichtranslated into IRs 2.08 and 2.06 per kg dry stover, respectively, even though the tradershad obtained their Telangana stover from different batches and sources. Each trader hadat the same time also one premium stover on offer, sold at a fresh rate of IRs2.80 (typeAndhra) and IRs3.0 (type Raichur) per kg which translated into IRs3.04 (Andhra) andIRs3.60 (Raichur) per kg dry stover, respectively (Table 1). In other words the premiumcharged for higher quality stover were 46% at Azampura market and 75% at Amberpet.Compared to the premium stover Andhra and Raichur, both Telangana stover showedlower nitrogen content and higher fiber constituents NDF, ADF and ADL (Table 1). InRao and Blümmel107addition, in vitro digestibility and metabolisableenergy were higher in the premium stover. Asobserved by Blümmel and Rao (2006), when a traderoffered choice between a low cost and a moreexpensive stover type, the latter had in most casesmore favourable laboratory fodder quality traits.These findings are also in agreement with studiesof farmer’s perception about fodder qualitydifferences in sorghum stover (Kelley andParthasarathy Rao, 1994, Rama Devi et al., 2000;Underwood et al. 2000, Parthasarathy Rao and Hall,2003) where farmers were aware of cultivars-dependent fodder quality differences in sorghumstover.The differences in laboratory fodder qualitytraits between low cost and premium stover wereconfirmed by the sheep feeding trials (Table 2).The premium stover Andhra and Raichur hadsignificantly higher organic matter digestibilitycompared with the two Telangana stover (Table 2).Andhra stover had 7% higher organic matterdigestibility than Telangana stover at Azampura shopwhile Raichur stover exhibited 6% higherdigestibility than Telangana stover at Amberpet shop(Table 2). Kristjanson and Zerbini (1999) calculatedthat a one-percentage unit increase in digestibilityin sorghum and pearl millet stover would result inincreases in milk, meat and draught power outputsranging from 6 to 8 per cent. According to thesecalculations, a difference in digestibility of 6 to 7%would equate to approximately 45% increase inanimal production assuming a linear relationshipbetween digestibility and animal output. While theseestimates appear very high, they do broadly agreewith the premiums of 46 to 75% paid for the higherquality stover.Organic matter intake was significantly higherin Andhra stover with no significant differencesobserved between Raichur and Telangana stover.When purchased in July 2004, Andhra stovercontained 1.1% nitrogen which meets the minimummicrobial nitrogen requirement (Van Soest, 1994)Table 1.Costs of different types of sorghum stover collected in 2004 from two traders and their corresponding nitrogen (N), neutral (NDF) and acid (ADF)detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin (ADL), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolisable energy (ME) contentTraderCultivarPurchasePrice freshPrice dryNNDFADFADLIVOMDME             (Indian Rupees/kg)% of dry stroverMJ/kgAzampuraTelanganaJuly 041.702.080.680.744.65.738.65.56AzampuraAndhraJuly 042.803.041.169.036.23.249.67.12AmperbetTelanganaJuly 041.702.060.679.243.06.542.46.07AmperbetRaichurJuly 043.003.600.973.037.03.843.86.19Response of sheep to differently priced sorghum stover108and which might explain the higher intake observed in this stover type compared toRaichur. The stover were fed unsupplemented and stover nitrogen contents might haveexerted an effect on intake. Digestible organic matter intake was significantly higher inAndhra and Raichur than in Telangana stover. Nitrogen balances were positive in Andhraand Raichur fed sheep and negative in Telangana fed sheep (Table 2).When purchased in 2006, stover prices were generally similar to 2004 (compareTable 3 and Table 1). Laboratory quality traits of Telangana stover were again inferiorto the traits of the premium stover Andhra and Raichur however, nitrogen contents ofthese two stover were lower in 2006 (Table 4) than in 2004 and well beyond supportingminimum microbial nitrogen requirements. Blümmel and Rao (2006) reported considerablevariation in stover nitrogen content within stover types which possibly explained the lackof correlation observed between stover nitrogen and stover price. Supplementation didnot equalize the stover quality differences since Andhra and Raichur treatments had 5.1and 7.1% higher digestibility than observed in the Telangana treatment respectively anddigestible organic matter intake and nitrogen balances were also significantly higher inthe two premium stover.Using standard livestock nutritional principals (McDonald et al., 1988) and MEvalues of the stover (Table 3) and assuming gross energy values of 18.4 MJ/kg efficienciesTable 2. Organic matter intake (OMI), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and organic matter intake anddigestible organic matter intake (DOMI) relative to metabolic bodyweight when sorghum stovercollected in 2004 were fed ad libitum as sole feed to sheepTrader Cultivar OMD OMI OMI DOMI N-Balance% g/d g/kg LW/d g/kg LW/d g/dAzampura Telangana 50.9b 371b 19.7b 10.6c -0.7bAzampura Andhra 57.0a 481a 25.7a 14.6a 1.9aAmberpet Telangana 52.1b 351b 18.9b 9.8c -0.3cAmberpet Raichur 58.1a 401b 21.5b 12.5b 1.2babcIndicate significant difference between the treatments.Table 3. Costs of different types of sorghum stover collected in 2006 from two traders and theircorresponding nitrogen (N), neutral (NDF) and acid (ADF) detergen fiber, acid detergentlignin (ADL), in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolisable energy (ME)contentTrader Cultivar Purchase Fresh Dry N NDF ADF ADL IVOMD ME          (Price INR/kg) % (dry matter) MJ/kgAzampura Telangana May 2006 1.60 1.97 0.4 75.6 53.3 6.8 38.2 5.3Azampura Andhra May 2006 3.00 3.60 0.4 70.3 48.0 5.2 46.4 6.74Hitech Raichur May 2006 3.10 3.37 0.6 67.2 45.7 4.8 48.6 6.82Rao and Blümmel109(km) for providing maintenance requirements by Telangana, Andhra and Raichur stovercan be calculated as 0.604, 0.631 and 0.633, respectively. From these km factors netenergy content of Telangana, Andhra and Raichur stover for providing maintenancerequirements can be calculated as 3.20, 4.25 and 4.32 MJ/kg, respectively. Sorghumstover traded in Hyderabad is exclusively used in dairy production. A 500 kg dairyanimal which is about the weight of buffalos in the urban and peri-urban dairy systemsaround Hyderabad (Anandan et al., 2009) would require about 37 MJ net energy per dayor 13.4, 10.0, 9.9 kg of Telangana, Andhra and Raichur stover, respectively. Thesemaintenance rations would come at a daily cost of IRs 26.4 (Telangana) 36 (Andhra) and33.4 (Raichur), respectively. Similar relationships can be calculated for milk productionwith kl factors of 0.52, 0.548 and 0.550 and net energy contents for milk production of2.76, 3.69 and 3.75 MJ/kg for Telangana, Andhra and Raichur, respectively. Assumingenergy content of buffalo milk to be 4.4 MJ/l, the production of 1 liter of milk wouldcost IRs3.14, 4.29 and 3.95 in Telangana, Andhra and Raichur fed dairy, respectively.While simplified, on the surface these calculations appear to suggest that the premiumspaid for Andhra and Raichur stover are exaggerated. However, feeding of the premiumstover will mitigate intake constraints allowing higher level of milk to be produced,proportionally lessening the feeding costs for maintenance requirements. Theseconsiderations are elaborated in Table 5 assuming an intake ceiling of 4% of live weightin dairy buffalo on stover based feeding regime (Anandan et al., 2009) and ignoringprotein requirements while assuming that all energy is supplied by the sorghum stover.Even though Telangana stover is the cheaper fodder for maintenance and productionoverall benefits would be much higher on Andhra and Raichur fed animals becauseoverall milk production would be higher and the economically unproductive feed costsfor maintenance are proportionally reduced. In fact, fodder traders and dairy producerssimply stated as reason for preference of Andhra and Raichur over Telangana stover thatthe animal are giving more milk when fed the former two stover. While the higher milkproduction would justify the higher prices for the premium fodder still more work isrequired to understand the choices of stover in the context of the overall feeding anddairy management system.Table 4. Organic matter intake (OMI), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and organic matter intake anddigestible organic matter intake (DOMI) relative to metabolic bodyweight when sorghum stovercollected in 2006 were fed to sheep ad libitum on top of a flat rate of 133 g (DM) of concentrateTrader Cultivar OMD OMI OMI DOMI N-Balance% g/d g/kg LW/d g/kg LW/d g/dAzampura Telangana 55.2b 473b 26.7b 14.7b 3.9cAzampura Andhra 60.7a 606a 29.9a 18.2a 5.0aHitech Raichur 62.3a 515b 27.2b 17.0a 4.4babcIndicate significant difference between the treatments.Response of sheep to differently priced sorghum stover110REFERENCESAndandan, S. Khan, A.A., Ravi, D., Reddy, J. and Blummel, M. 2009. A comparison of sorghumstover based complete feed blocks with a conventional feeding practice in a periurban dairy.Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 10S: 23-28.Blümmel, M. and Rao, P.P. 2006. Economic value of sorghum stover traded as fodder for urban andperi-urban dairy production in Hyderabad, India. International Sorghum and Millets Newsletter47:97-101.Goering, H.K. and Van Soest, P.J. 1970. Forage Fiber Analysis. Agricultural Handbook No. 379.Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, USA.Kelley, T.G. and Parthasarathy Rao, P.P. 1994. Yield and quality characteristics of improved andtraditional sorghum cultivars: Farmers’ perceptions and preferences. In: Variation in the Quantityand Quality of Fibrous Crop Residues (Eds. A.L. Joshi, P.T. Doyle and S.J. Oosting). Proceedingsof a National Seminar held at the BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, India. pp. 133-145.Kristjanson, P.M. and Zerbini, E. 1999. Genetic enhancement of sorghum and millet residues fed toruminants ILRI Impact Assessment Series 3, International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi,Kenya.McDonald, P., Edwards, R.A. and Greenhalgh, J.F.D. 1988. Animal Nutrition. 4th ed. Longman Scientificand Technical. Publications, Essex, England, UK.Menke, K. H. and Steingass, H. 1988. Estimation of the digestibility and metabolizable energy contentof ruminant feedstuffs from the gas production when they are incubated with rumen liquor invitro. Animal Research and Development, 28: 7-55.Parthasarathy Rao, P. and Hall, A.J. 2003. Importance of crop residues in crop-livestock systems in Indiaand farmers perceptions of fodder quality in coarse cereals. Field Crop Research, 84: 189-198.Rama Devi, K., Bandyopadhyay, R., Hall, A.J., Indira, S., Pande, S. and Jaiswal, P. 2000. Farmers’Perceptions of the Effects of Plant Diseases on the Yield and Nutritive Value of Crop ResiduesTable 5. Effects of energy intake level over maintenance requirements and resulting cost benefits estimatesfrom milk sales assuming 500 kg dairy buffalo with a maximum intake potential of 4% of bodyweight fed entirely on different types of sorghum stoverVariable Telangana stover Andhra stover Raichur stoverIntake potential (kg) 20.0 20.0 20.0Stover requirement for maintenance (kg) 13.4 10.0 9.9Intake capacity for milk production (kg) 6.6 10 10.1Stover required for 1 kg of milk (kg) 1.59 1.22 1.17Milk from stover intake capacity (kg) 4.15 8.20 8.63Daily income from milk (IRs) 1 104 205 216Feed costs (IRs) 39.4 71.1 67.5Net benefit (IRs) 2 64.6 133.9 148.51Assuming a sales price of 25 IRs per liter of milk.2 without including other feed costs that would normally be fed in the same proportion along with the three types.Rao and Blümmel111Used for Peri-Urban Dairy Production on the Deccan Plateau: Findings from Participatory RuralAppraisals. Information Bulletin No. 60. International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-AridTropics, Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India.SAS. 1988. Statistical Analysis System. SAS Institute Inc. Release 6.03 ed. Cary, New York, USA.Tesfaye, A. 1998. Economics of milk production in and around Hyderabad of Andhra Pradesh. MScThesis, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India.Underwood, M.P., Hall, A.J. and Zerbini, E. 2000. Genetic enhancement of sorghum and millet residuesfed to ruminants: Farmers’ perception of fodder quality in livelihood systems. Summary reportof PRA case studies in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan states.ILRI (International Livestock Research Institute Nairobi, Kenya and ICRISAT (InternationalCrops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics), Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India, pp. 68.Van Soest, P.J. 1994. Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant, 2nd ed. Cornell University Press, Ithaca,New York, USA.Response of sheep to differently priced sorghum stover

A Note on the Response of Sheep to Differently, Priced Sorghum Stover Traded Concomitantly and Implications for the Economy of Feeding

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A Note on the Response of Sheep to Differently, Priced Sorghum Stover Traded Concomitantly and Implications for the Economy of Feeding

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