Abstract
Effect of the Bt - or conventional cottonseed meal was assessed as well as the performance, fermentation, ciliate protozoa population and microbial enzyme of lambs. Three feed mixture (FM, forage: concentrate ration of 35: 65) contained groundnut oilmeal (GNM), insect protected Btcottonseed meal ( Bt -CM) or conventional whole cottonseed (C-CM) as protein source, were fed for 123 days to the control, C-CM and Bt -CM group of lambs, respectively. Whole seed meal Bt - and C-CM had similar nutrient composition. The Ca was higher while Zn content was lower in C-CM. Both CM had similar metabolizable energy (MJ/kg DM). Lambs of three groups had similar daily gain, DM intake and nutrient digestibility. Rumen fluid pH and TVFA were similar, while ammonia-N (mg/l) was higher (p<0.001) in control lambs. Cottonseed feeding eliminated (p<0.001) rumen protozoa; protozoa were 101.1, 59.0 and 39.6 ×104/ ml in rumen fluid respectively in control, C-CM and Bt -CM diet fed lambs. Rumen enzymes activities of xyalanase, β-glucosidase and β-xylosidase were similar, while Bt -CM feeding reduced (p=0.010) carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) activity by 47% and increased proteases activity by 22%. The study concludes that inclusion of Bt-CM produced pronounced defaunation with reduced rumen ammonia concentrations, which improved daily gain. Therefore, Bt -CM can be incorporated at 180 g/kg in lamb diet. Keywords: Cottonseed, genetically modified feed, performance, fermentation, rumen enzymes African Journal of Biotechnology , Vol. 13(3), pp. 509-522, 15 January, 2014
Highlights
The groundnut oil meal (GNM) is a conventional protein supplement in animal feeding in India
The samples of cottonseeds were processed for chemical analyses and in-vitro gas production procedure of 100 ml glass syringe was used for in-vitro fermentation
The in-vitro fermentation characteristics show that metabolizable energy (ME) content was not different between Bt- and conventional cottonseed meal (C-CM), while gas production mmol/ g dry matter (DM) fermented was higher in C-CM seeds
Summary
The groundnut oil meal (GNM) is a conventional protein supplement in animal feeding in India. During last several years, this feed resource has been diverted toward production of cheaper food supplements for human consumptions. There is need to explore feed resources that can replace GNM in ruminant feeing and cottonseed could be an alternative (Solomon et al, 2008; Solaiman et al., 2009; Dayani et al, 2007); because, use of whole cottonseed in animal feeding provides high fiber, energy and protein, and has considerable quantity of rumen escape proteins that support high requirement of amino acids for various productions. Cotton crop is highly susceptible to insect and pests infestation that causes significant economic losses to the producers, and high dosing of chemicals are required for successful crop production.
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