Year: 2018 | Month: October | Volume 8 | Issue 5
Monensin Supplementation in the Feed for Lactating Murrah Buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis): Influence on Nutrient Utilization and Enteric Methane Emissions
Abstract:
The present experiment was conducted to find out the effect of monensin supplementation on nutrients utilization and enteric methane emission in lactating Murrah buffaloes. Twelve lactating Murrah buffaloes (567.50 ± 44.3 kg body weight (BW); initial days in milk = 52.83 ± 10.24; milk yield = 6-8 kg/d) were divided in to two groups (n=6) based on the BW and days in milk. Both the groups were fed sugar graze and concentrate mixture (70:30 ratio) as a total mixed ration, without supplementation (control) or supplemented with monensin 24 mg/kg of dry matter intake (treatment) for sixty days. Nutrient utilization and enteric methane emissions were measured after 50 days of monensin supplementation. The daily intake (kg/d) and apparent digestibility (%) of nutrients were similar (P>0.05) in both the groups, However Methane emissions in terms of g/d, g/kg milk yield and g/kg dry matter intake (DMI) were found to be lower (P<0.05) by 8.55%, 13.20% and 9.02% respectively, in treatment group as compared to control. Methane energy loss as percent of Gross Energy (GE), Digestive Energy (DE) and Metabolizable Energy (ME) was reduced (P<0.05) in monensin supplemented group by 8.82, 11.11 and 11.45%, respectively compared to control. The results suggested that feeding 24 mg/kg DMI of monensin on high forage diets has the potential to reduce enteric methane emissions in lactating buffaloes without significant effect on nutrient utilization which will reduce the contribution of buffaloes to the global methane inventory and its negative impact on environment and increase environmental friendly milk production in the country.
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