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AICR to cattle feed in Gujarat

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Our Regional Bureau Ahmedabad
Last Updated : Feb 15 2013 | 4:55 AM IST
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has decided to commission a cattle feed plant in Godhra, Gujarat with an intention to provide a significant improvement in income for small village farmers.
 
The by-pass protein plant is expected to produce 55 tonne of processed by-pass protein meal per day.
 
The project is a part of the research programme funded by ACIAR to help increase the productivity of ruminants in India, including dairy cattle and buffalo by using a protected or by-pass protein supplement.
 
According to ACIAR, India has population of 3000 lakh cattle that is owned by 110 lakh small villages.
 
"Because most of the nutritious grains are used to feed India's large human population, dairy cattle are often left with a diet of straw and stubble, the residues of farming products. This sort of diet lacks the protein and energy necessary for optima milk production," said Suresh Gulati, faculty of Veterinary Science at University of Sydney.
 
The research project is being funded by the ACIAR since March 2000.
 
The first prototype unit producing 50 tonne of by-pass protein was established in 2002 at Itola near Vadodara and running successfully today.
 
The plant at Godhra is a part of the Panchamahal District C-operative Milk Producers Union Limited located at Godhra, with about 1,80,000 farmer members.
 
"The challenge is to produce the most effective form of un-degradable rumen protein and to prove that inclusion of these supplements in the diet of lactating ruminants produces a worthwhile economic return to dairy farmers," said Gulati.
 
The small amount of protein that is ingested from the poor quality roughage is mostly broken down in the rumen of the cow by micro-organisms.
 
By developing a technology that protects the protein from being degraded in the rumen, greater quantities of essential amino acids are absorbed in the small intestine, effectively increasing the nutrient intake of the cow and resulting in greater milk production.

 

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