Forage for Sustainable Livestock Production

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Feed and fodder development: issues and options/K.A. Singh. 2. Forage research network in India and its role in enhancing forage production/S.A. Faruqui and Sunil Kumar. 3. Trees as a source of fodder for livestock in India/N. Das. 4. Use of remote sensing in assessing forage resources availability/J.P. Singh, P.N. Dwivedi, N.S. Ekta, R.K. Agrawal and S. Radotra. 5. Seed production for forage crops and grasses and national network/R.K. Bhatt. 6. Varietal improvements in forage crops/G.P. Shukla. 7. Forage production technology for sustaining animal productivity/R.K. Agrawal, S.N. Tripathi and J.P. Singh. 8. Forage production strategies for problematic soils/S.B. Tripathi. 9. Soil health for forage production: soil enzyme activities as bio-indicators/S.K. Das. 10. Potential forage production systems for different agro-climatic situation of India/Sunil Kumar. 11. Analytical techniques for determination of mineral in feed and forages/K.K. Singh, S.K. Mahanta, M.M. Das, Anil Kumar and A.K. Misra. 12. Forage evaluation and animal production under grazing/S.K. Mahanta, M.M. Das, K.K. Singh and N. Das. 13. Plant carbohydrate and protein fractions as forage quality determinants/A.K. Mishra, M.M. Das, K.K. Singh, Anil Kumar and M.K. Tripathi. 14. In vivo techniques for measurement of forage digestibility/Sultan Singh. 15. Estimation of forage degradability in ruminants by in situ technique/M.M. Das, K.K. Singh, S.K. Mahanta, Anil Kumar and A.K. Misra. 16. Recent developments in physico-chemical techniques for forage quality determinations/Subir Kumar Nag. 17. Gas production technique for forage evaluation/Sultan Singh. 18. Insect and pathogen infestation: impact on forage yield and quality/Sharmila Roy and Pradeep Saxena. 19. Pesticide residues in animal feeds and fodder and their management for quality livestock production/Subir Kumar Nag. 20. Microbial protein synthesis in ruminants fed forage/S.K. Mahanta, K.K. Singh, M.M. Das and A.K. Misra. 21. Fodder availability and livestock management in North-West Himalaya/Sudesh Radotra, Inder Dev and J.P. Singh. 22. Use of behaviour knowledge to enhance feed intake in livestock/S.B. Maity and N. Das. 23. Post-harvest handling of fodder crops in development of a fodder bank/P.K. Pathak and P.N. Dwivedi. 24. Technologies for quality silage and hay making from forages/A.B. Mojumdar. 25. Leaf meal processing technology and feeding strategies to the livestock/P.N. Dwivedi and P.K. Pathak. 26. Practical aspect of mineral nutrition in livestock/K.K. Singh, M.M. Das, S.K. Mahanta, Anil Kumar and A.K. Misra. 27. Forage based feeding of livestock/S.K. Mahanta, K.K. Singh, M.M. Das, and N. Das. 28. Organic forage production: management and production issues/S.B. Maity. 29. Nutritional improvement of crop residues/M.M. Das, K.K. Singh, A.K. Misra, Anil Kumar and S.K. Mahanta. 30. Challenges and priorities for improvement of forage crops: biotechnological approach/D.R. Malaviya, A.K. Roy and P. Kaushal. 31. Agroforestry interventions for reclamation of degraded lands/A.K. Handa. 32. Tannin rich feeds and their strategic utilization/B.K. Bhadoria. 33. Secondary metabolites of forages in relation to animal production/S.K. Mahanta, K.K. Singh, M.M. Das, S.K. Nag and N. Das. 34. Glucosinolate: its estimation and role in animal feeding/M.K. Tripathi, A.S. Mishra and A.K. Misra. 35. Nutritional significance and antimethanogenic potential of feed tannins/M.K. Tripathi and Deepika Chaturvedi. 36. Rangelands and their improvement strategies/M.M. Roy. 37. Grassland/rangeland management and livestock production/B.K. Trivedi and J.P. Singh. 38. Genetic improvement in range grasses and legumes for increasing forage productivity from degraded lands/Ajoy Kumar Roy. 39. Utilization of degraded lands through hortipastoral system/Sunil Kumar, S.N. Ram and A.K. Shukla. 40. Role of weather based agro advisory services in decision making for forage and livestock production/J.B. Singh and Pradeep Behari. 41. Underutilized feed resources for enhancing animal production/K.K. Singhal. 42. Scope of utilization of unconventional feeds in livestock feeding/S.K. Tomar. 43. Livestock biodiversity in India/B.P. Kushwaha. 

"The growth of milk production in post-independent India was mainly driven by growth in traditional production functions (viz. increase in animal number and availability of crop residues) till 1970-71. In the subsequent decades, technological changes and marketing opportunity (through the Operation Flood Programme) became the driving force imparting spectacular growth of milk production and today India becomes the highest milk producer in the world. During seventies the shift in feeding pattern of livestock had taken place in favour of green fodder and in subsequent decades it is more pronounced in favour of both green fodder and concentrate mixture. But recently high cost of inputs, especially concentrate mixture has put a spanner in the growth of all livestock products. Livestock enterprises cannot be remunerative and sustainable unless we can reduce the feeding cost substantially. Economic milk and meat production are only possible if concentrate feeding were replaced more and more by green and quality fodder.

The information available in this book on recent advances made in the technologies in respect of forage based economic feeding, roughage processing including high moisture forage conservation, densification, leaf metal preparation and mineral nutrition will equip the research and extension workers in dealing with the forage related issues. The book also imparts knowledge on newly developed varieties of fodder and grasses suited for arid and semi-arid regions, technologies for handling problematic soils/degraded pasture land, organic forage production and pesticide residues in forage and livestock products. This book will also be useful for progressive farmers and the students in the disciplines of animal nutrition, livestock production and management and agronomy."