Feeding Practices Followed by Dairy Cattle Farmers in Bhavnagar District of Gujarat State
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/ijvsbt.22.5.26Keywords:
Bhavnagar district, Cattle feeding, Dairy cattle farmers, Feeding practicesAbstract
A survey was conducted in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat state from March to May 2025 to assess existing feeding practices followed by dairy cattle farmers. The study was carried out in six talukas. A multistage random sampling technique was adopted, wherein two villages from each taluka were randomly selected and 10 dairy cattle farmers owning 1-2 animals producing ≥ 6 kg milk per day were interviewed from each village. Thus, information was collected from 120 respondents using a structured questionnaire designed to obtain data on types of feeds and fodders offered, feeding schedules and management practices. The results revealed that all respondents (100%) practiced stall feeding. The majority of farmers (77.50%) provided a combination of concentrate, green fodder and dry fodder, while 19.17% and 3.33% offered concentrate with only dry fodder and only green fodder, respectively. All respondents used commercially available concentrates, mainly readymade concentrate mixtures, compound cattle feed, cottonseed cake, cottonseed and groundnut cake and none prepared homemade concentrate mixtures. Most farmers (91.67%) fed concentrates twice daily and 58.33% offered it in unprocessed form. Jowar, Napier, maize, lucerne and marvel grass were the principal green fodders, whereas jowar hay and groundnut gotar were the predominant dry roughages. Mineral mixture supplementation was adopted by only 12.50% of respondents. Water was provided ad libitum though watering frequency varied from 2-4 times daily. Furthermore, 60% of farmers provided concentrates during the dry period, 68.33% offered pregnancy allowances and 79.17% followed special feeding after calving. The study indicates predominance of conventional feeding practices and limited adoption of scientific nutritional interventions, underscoring the need for targeted extension programmes to promote balanced feeding and improve dairy cattle productivity in the district.
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