Abstract
The study was undertaken to evaluate the quality of commercial beef cattle feed and feed ingredients which are available in Bangladesh. For this purpose, chemical analysis and in vitro digestibility (IVD) were estimated for nine commercial feeds and different feed ingredients which were collected from different regions. Chemical analysis of samples was carried out in triplicate for dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), ether extract (EE), ash, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content. Metabolizable energy (ME) was calculated mathematically for feed samples by using standard formula. The analysis revealed the difference between the manufacturer’s claim and actual analyzed value. In commercial feeds DM content ranged from 90-92%. While CP content of commercial feeds was either lower or higher than the written value of feed industries. In Provita feed CP content (20.72%) was higher and Care feed had much lower CP content (7.54%) than written value. In vitro digestibility of DM in feed ingredients varied from 18.27 in straw to 75.77% in soybean meal. The fiber component (NDF and ADF) was negatively correlated with IVDMD and CP was positively correlated with IVDMD because fiber rich components were less digestible than the non-fibrous component (protein). Analysis of commercial feed samples revealed that the values claimed by the manufacturers are quite different from the actual analyzed values. This is a matter of concern and needs to be checked through better quality control measures by systematic feed analysis and ensure that manufacturers declare the true composition of the marketed feeds.
 SAARC J. Agri., 18(1): 197-208 (2020)
Highlights
In Bangladesh, livestock sector is one of the major components of agricultural activities and plays a crucial role in economic development by ensuring food security and stimulating the growth of a number of subsidiary industries (Goutam et al, 2017)
Feed quality analyses: The samples were analyzed for proximate analysis such as dry matter (DM) (Dry matter), crude protein (CP) (Crude protein) and ash following the method of AOAC (2005)
The proximate analysis of nine (9) commercial beef cattle feeds are shown in table 1
Summary
In Bangladesh, livestock sector is one of the major components of agricultural activities and plays a crucial role in economic development by ensuring food security and stimulating the growth of a number of subsidiary industries (Goutam et al, 2017). Feed shortage is the main reason for low productivity of livestock in Bangladesh (Rahman et al, 1998; Baset et al, 2003; Jahan et al, 2018) and at the same time farmers are not able to formulate a balanced ration leading to loss of productivity. The role of these industries should be to provide high quality livestock feeds to enhance production by meeting the nutrient requirements of livestock in different stages of growth or production. A question arises whether the animal feed industries maintain the composition accurately in the feed as mentioned in the package and the feed is free from harmful objects or they attempt to mislead the consumer. Misleading information in the nutritional profile of feed provided by the suppliers erodes the consumer confidence and loss of productivity
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