Uses of tree leaves as alternative feed resources for ruminant animals

Abstract

Agriculture including the livestock as an integral component plays an important role in Indian economy. The total livestock population is 535.78 million in the country reflected an increase of 4.6% over livestock census 2012. Latest estimate on demand-supply gap in fodder availability shows a net deficit of 30.65% green fodder and 11.85% dry crop residues in year 2020 (IGFRI Vision, 2050) [23]. In hills, fodder trees, shrubs and grazing in the forests are the main sources for the livestock feed including use of agricultural residue (Singh and Sundriyal, 2009) [41]. Tree leaves are generally rich in proteins and minerals particularly calcium and phosphorus (Gaikwad et al., 2017) [20]. Bakshi and Wadhwa, (2007) [7] reported that voluntary dry matter intake (kg/d) was significantly (P