IMPACT OF VARYING MOISTURE LEVELS, DIFFERENT ADDITIVES AND FERMENTATION PERIODS ON NUTRITIVE VALUE OF LEGUMINOUS AND NON-LEGUMINOUS FODDER SILAGES IN LACTATING NILI-RAVI BUFFALOES

摘要

Efficient ruminant productivity is only possible if a steady supply of quality forage in sufficient amounts is made available to them. In Pakistan, there are two important fodder scarcity periods, one is during winter months (November to January) andother is during summer months (May to July) and in rest of the year fodder availability is fairly regular and abundant. This abundant fodder if not properly managed is the wastage of fodder resource. This situation calls for the exploration of differentmeans to improve quality and quantity of roughages without sacrificing the area under cash crops. Manipulating this surplus fodder can bridge the gap between supply and demand. Silage making is one of the important techniques in this regard (Tauqir et al., 2007).