Faba bean (Vicia faba) as a cheap protein source in Murrah buffalo diet: Effect on milk production

Abstract

The present study was carried out to study the effect of Faba Bean (Vicia faba) as protein source on performance of Murrah Buffaloes. For this, eighteen Murrah buffaloes in transition phase were selected and divided into 3 treatment groups having six buffaloes in each group on the basis of milk yield, body weight and parity, following completely randomized design (CRD). Treatment 1 (control) was given concentrate as per ICAR standard 2013 (T0), in treatment 2; 15% of the CP of the concentrate of the control group was replaced with faba bean (T1) and Treatment 3 was given concentrate by replacing 30% of the CP of the control group with faba bean (T2). Production performance parameters were observed. It was reported that replacement of protein source with 15 and 30% faba bean did not have significant effect on average days taken to attain peak yield and persistency period. Overall, it can be concluded that replacement of high cost protein source with faba bean (cheap protein source) upto 30% level does not have any deleterious effect on performance of the animal and also economical to the farmers.