Effect of Storage Period on Physical, Sensory and Mechanical Characteristics of Green Fodders Pellets, Dry Fodders Pellets and Concentrates Pellets

Abstract

Background: Indian farmers are facing shortage of green and dry fodders to feed their livestock during dry period (lean period) which possess a major hurdle in improving livestock productivity. This study delineates, pelleting of green, dry fodders and concentraes in order to meet out the fodder requirement during winter/lean period, which will in turn consequently improve livestock productivity. Methods: The experiments were conducted at Forage Pelleting Unit, Department of Forage Crops in Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from December 2020 to June 2022 to identify the best suitable fodder crops for pellets production. Three laboratory experiments laid out in completely randomized block design (CRD) were conducted with three replication. Each experiment of pelletisation had different treatments, viz., experiment I with 13 different categories of green fodder, experiment II with 11 different types of dry fodders and experiment III with 9 types of concentrates. Result: The observation of physical characteristics (colour and odour) and sensory characteristics (mould) were noted at regular intervals from date of pelleting, 60 days after pelleting, 120 days after pelleting and 180 days after pelleting. The mechanical characteristics such as pellet durability index (PDI) was recorded by using a tumbling can apparatus. The PDI was remained steady over the period of time. In case of pellets made from certain fodder sources, the colour was not the same and odour was not favourable when the pellets were kept for longer duration (beyond 120 DAP). Except for the agathi pellets, cumbu stover pellets and sorghum grain pellets, all other feed pellets were mold-free.