सिलेज (कुटटी) और सूखी घास के रूप में चारा संरक्षण करना

Crop production is concerned with the utilization of plant morphological and physiological responses within an agro-climatic environment to produce maximum yield per unit area and time. Year-round forage production through combination of perennial and annual forages. Overlapping cropping systems developed at the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute (IGFRI), Jhansi, to fulfill the needs of dairy farmers for green fodder throughout the year and for small farmers requiring maximum forage from a piece of land. It consists of raising berseem, inter-planted with hybrid Napier in spring and intercropping the inter-row spaces of the grass with cowpea during summer after the final harvest of berseem. This system was found superior to multiple crop sequences both in terms of production and economic returns. The hybrid Napier could be successfully replaced with relatively soft and palatable perennial grasses like Setaria and guinea grass and berseem with lucerne wherever required.

Fodder crops are the plant species that are cultivated and harvested for feeding the animals in the form of forage (cut green and fed fresh), silage (preserved under anaerobic condition) and hay (dehydrated green fodder). The total area under cultivated fodders is 8.3 million ha on individual crop basis. Sorghum amongst the kharif crops (2.6 million ha) and berseem (Egyptian clover) amongst the rabi crops (1.9 million ha) occupy about 54% of the total cultivated fodder cropped area (Table 1). The area under permanent pastures has been declining over the years and the trend could well continue in the future. Due to overgrazing, the productivity of the pastures has been declining too. The area under fodder crops has almost remained static for the last 3-4 decades.

Table :1. Forage crops grown and their area and productivity in India

This is mainly for want of proper land cover data reporting. However, the area under fodder crops has increased in peri-urban areas that have developed as milk sheds under intensive dairy production systems during the past years Sizeable amount of fodder demand is fulfilled through vast grasslands and rangelands (Table 2). Any positive or negative change in its position will have impact on several environmental issues. Similarly, the increase in livestock population will also affect the availability of organic wastes which in turn can boost the agriculturalproduction.

Table:2 Grazing resources in India (2000 – 2001)

Table :3 Round-the-year fodder production systems

A combination of diversified soil types, wide range of climatic conditions (cloudy to sunshine, hot to cold, dry to rainy) and a large group of forage species suited to different agro-ecological conditions and input situations, makes a congenial environment for intensive forage production programme in our country. The cultivated fodder crops can be grouped as follows:

Cereal fodders: Cereals are the crop plants belonging to grass family Gramineae and grown for their edible starch seeds botanically known as ‘caryopsis’. Cereal fodders and grasses are characteristically determinate in growth habit and their herbage quality starts deteriorating after flowering. Cereal fodders like maize, sorghum, pearl millet and oats provide energy-rich herbage to livestock. These have wider adaptability and variability in terms of growth, regeneration potential, yield and quality of herbage.

Legumes: The word legume is derived from the Latin word “Legre” (to gather) because the pods have to be gathered or picked by hand as distinct from ‘reaping’ the cereals. The plants belong to family Leguminoseae and having nitrogen fixing nodules on their roots. Legumes by and large are indeterminate in growth and thus, maintain quality traits over longer periods. The leguminous fodders have special significance because of high herbage protein and partial independence from soil for their nitrogen needs.

Other crops: Besides these important groups of fodders, root crops (turnips, carrots and fodder beets), Brassica spp. and vetches are used as supplementary source of feed to the livestock. Due to early bulking capacity and short duration, these are often gown as catch crops.

Availability of nutritious fodder throughout the year is very essential for profitable dairy farming. But it varies from season to season.  Therefore, every dairy farm must preserve the surplus fodder in the form of silage or hay.  The surplus forages of the two glut seasons i.e. rainy season (August-September) and winter season (February-mid March) could easily be carried over to the succeeding lean periods of fodder supply.  During the lean periods of May and mid July and November -December the hay or silage can supplement the dry fodder and limited quantity of green fodder avail able to over come the scarcity of fodder.

Silage

Silage is the preserved green fodder in succulent form under air tight conditions.  Ensiling is a process which involves the conservation of green fodder crops, grasses and the storage over long period. Good quality silage is yellowish-green in colour with a pleasant vinegar smell.   

The technique is more or less similar to that commonly employed in the preparation of pickles.  Pickling of fruits and vegetables is a universal practice in most indian homes, rural and urban alike.  Therefore, it is not difficult for the farmers to grasp the technique of silage making and use it successfully.  The process fits ideally irrespective of the size of the farm and the extent of mechanization employed.

Crops suitable for silage

There is a wide range of crops suitable to this purpose.  Excellent silage may be may be made from crops like Jowar, Maize, Bajra Oats and Barely.  Among the perennial grasses large amounts of surplus fodder is available for silage making from the luxuriant growth of Hybrid Napier grass, Guinea grass, Para grass, Sudan grass and Rhode grass.  During monsoon season a considerable portion of natural grasses such as dub, Kolu Katai   could very well be converted into silage instead of allowing them to mature and become less nutritious. Legumes like berseem, lucerne and cowpea are not suitable for silage making.  However when mixed with non-legume crops in the right proportion, the mixture yields a well balanced silage.  Silage can be made successfully by mixing of paddy straw and berseem, paddy straw and water-hyacinth and berseem and oats. 

Stage of harvesting the crop:

The fodder crop should be harvested at a stage when nutrient content is at peak stage and it has produced enough through dry matter.  The crop must have sufficient sugars to permit the quick production of preservative acids of which lactic acid is the most important one.  The crop should be neither immature nor over mature.  Flowering to milk stage is recommended for making silage from maize, Jowar and oats crops.  In case of bajra and teosinte boot stage is best harvested at blooming stage but Hybrid napier and Guinea grass should be harvested at 1.25 meter height stage.  Good quality silage can be made when the dry matter of crop is 30-35 per cent.  Take a handful of chaffed fodder in between the hands and press.  If hands do not moist, the fodder has the desired dry matter.

Silage Making

Silage is made by compressing the chaffed green fodder in tight pits called silos.  There are many types of silos such as pit silo, tower silo, trench silo but under village conditions the ordinary pit silo is recommended.

Pit Silo

Dig a circular or rectangular pit of desirable dimension on a site located at the higher elevation and near the animal shed.  It may be located in an area with a lower water table to avoid rise of water into the silo during the rainy season through capillary action.  The size of the pit depends on the fodder available for ensiling as well as the silage requirement of the cattle.  It may be roughly calculated on the basis that one cubic meter of the silo can have 650 to 700kg settled silage.  A silo pit measuring 3.0 meter length, 2.5 meter width and 2.0 meter depth a convenient size for making silage for feeding five dairy animals at the rate of 20 kg silage per head per day for three months.  Such pit can be prepared by a farmer without much expense.  A circular pit is better than rectangular one, because the chaffed fodder has comparatively less surface contact and while filling air can be expelled easily.  Before filling, plaster the sides with mud and line with long stalks of dried fodder to prevent fodder coming into direct contact with earth. Alternatively line these with polythine sheet or brick line and plaster. The bottom should not be plastered.

Filling the pits

Chaff the fodder into small pieces (2.5 to 4.0 cm) with a chaff cutter before ensiling for better compaction.  If the fodder is found withered due to a bright sun, sprinkle a little water during the course of filling the pit. In case the silage is to be prepared from leguminous fodders like barseem, lucerne or cowpea or immature grass rich in protein, the addition of carbohydrates is essential.  Such types of crops, before ensiling, should be wilted to the moisture content of 65 to 70 per cent or a dry matter content of 30 to 35 per cent.  Wilting before ensiling will bring the desired dry matter and will reduce the water content which will consequently increase the sugar content in the forages and help in effective fermentation.  It also helps to lower the seepage and leaching losses site.  Molasses, at the rate of 40 to 50 kg per ton of ensiled material should be added in the case of legume fodder crops. Other alternate additives recommended are ground maize, ground barely 80 to 100 kg per ton of chaffed fodder.  These additives provide favourable conditions for the bacteria to produce lactic acid.

To check the growth of undesirable organisms and to increase the growth of lactic acid producing bacteria, certain preservatives may be added while making silage.  The preservatives like common salt (18-20 kg) ton sodium meta-bisulphite (5 kg) dilute acetic acid (10 litres) or phosphoric acid at the rate of 6 kg per tonne of chaffed forage may be added.

The green fodder should be chaffed carefully and spread over the entire area.  The material should be well trodden, during filling, in order to compress the mass, so that maximum quantity of air is excluded. Whole material should not be filled at one time.  As the pit is being filled, the chaffed fodder should be spread in uniform thin layers over the entire area and thoroughly compacted by trampling with foot.  When the filling is just approaching the ground level, heavy animals like bulls or buffaloes or even tractor may be used to trample over it and further layers of fodder should be spread more evenly.  In this way the compressed material in the pit should stand at least 2.5 to 3.0 feet above the ground level in a dome shape to facilitate draining out of rainy water.  It is essential to complete the filling of the silo in the shortest possible time; otherwise the quality of silage is adversely affected.

Sealing the pit

After the completion of filling, the silo needs to be sealed.  Provision must be made to protect it from rain water seepage.  The silo should be covered from the top up to ground level by polythene sheet and on which a layer of 10 cm moist earth should be spread.  Alternatively spread a 10-15 cm layer of dry fodders and cover it with and a layer of  earth, and plastered with cow dung and earth mixture to make it air tight and water proof.

After care of the pit

After few days the earth covering shows cracks caused by sinking down of the green material due to fermentation.  With the sinking down of the material, some portion may buldge out; such portion should be chaffed off to allow the whole mass to go down properly.  The cracks should be covered with some waste fodder or weed grass and plastered over with a mixture of mud and cow dung, so that an air tight condition is maintained.  If water accumulates around the pit, it should be drained off.  Once the pit is closed it should be kept air tight till it is opened for taking out the silage.  Silage should be ready for feeding in about 45 days.  When opened the pit should be used up as quickly as possible to avoid wastage and drying up.  It is advisable to remove one third or fourth of the surface area of the pit by cutting straight to the bottom with a silage knife.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Silage Making

A. Advantages

1. Silage can be made all the year round. Thus it can supply green fodder when rest other sources are not available.

2. Green fodder can be kept preserved in succulent stage for any length of time.

3. Grass silage preserves 85 % or more of the feed value of the crop, whereas hay making will preserve much less percentage of nutrients.

4. During and immediately after monsoon, abundant grass is available. During this season hay making is difficult. This grass can be preserved as silage.

5. Weeds are redundant plants growing in the field. They do not make a good hay but cattle relish most of the crop weeds. These weeds can be en- siled to supply nutritious feed to cattle.

6. Silage is a very palatable feed and slightly laxative in nature.

7. It is better source of protein and of certain vitamins, especially carotene and perhaps some of the un- known factors, than dried forage (table 4).

8. With early removal of kharif crops from fields for silage purpose, enough is available for preparing the land for the sowing following rabi crop.

9. Less of storage space is needed for silage than for hay. A cubic foot of silage contains about three time more dry weight of feed than a cubic foot of long hay stored in the mow.

10. It offers many advantages over pasture including no requirement of fencing, more forage from the same acreage, harvesting at optimum maturity more uniform quality.

B. Disadvantages

1. It requires more labour while filling the silo and add to the cost of feeding farm animals.

2. It requires a silo in comparison with the simpler method of field curing and storing hay.  This is likely to mean higher cost for small farmers.

3. Feed contains very less Vitamin D than sun-cured hay.

4. Preservatives like molasses and sodium meta-b-sulphite increase the cost of feed. Preservatives are also not freely available at all the places.

5. Silage can seldom be used as the sole ration un- less it has the right combination of high    protein legume, low protein grass and cereal crops.Nutritive value of fodder and

Hay Making

The drying and storing of high quality forage after harvesting at proper stage offer many advantages.  It assures the supply of high digestible feed with highly protein and calorific values all the year round.  It reduces the amount of concentrates that must be fed to cattle. Good quality hay is as nutritious as the green fodder and its helps in increasing milk production during period of fodder scarcity. Hay is priced on the basis of dry matter in the corresponding green forage.  For instance, 130 kg of hay containing 90 per cent dry matter would be worth as much as 780 kg of green forage containing 15 per cent dry matter the same crop.

The storage losses are less than those in silage.  It reduces the labour involved in handling and transport green forage, because the off green forage has 80-90 per cent water, whereas the hay has less than 20 per cent. It makes movement to the market as well as to the feed manger easier.  The labour and botheration of cutting green forage daily is eliminated.  Even the intensity of cropping can be increased and more cuttings can be taken from the multi cut crops.

In making hay from high-quality forage, the biggest draw back is the loss of valuable leaves in handling.  With the loss of leaves, a large fraction of proteins in the crop is lost particularly in case of legumes such as berseem, Lucerne, cowpeas, rice been and guar.  This problem is not so bad in case of non-legumes, such as maize, sorghum and napier x bajra hybrid.

A simple method of making hay with minimum loss of leaves is described below.  It can be easily adopted by the farmers without extra investment in equipment. Cut berseem or lucerne in the pre-blossom stage in order to ensure Conservation of protein and available energy to a great extent. Chop the forage while still moist (fresh or wilted) with a chaff-cutter Chopping need not be too fine.  The best length of the cut is about 5 to 8 cm. Spread the wet chopped forage in the sun on a smooth hard surface in a thin layer not exceeding 12 to 15cm in height.  The usual threshing floors, roof tops, polythene sheet etc. can be used for drying of forages. Stir the drying forage every 2-3 hours during the day to speed up the drying process under exposure to the sun and the air.

When thoroughly dry(usually) after 2-3 days, depending on the frequency of stirring, the intensity of the sun and the movement of the air, gather the mixture of dried stems and leaves to store or market.  When hay balers become available, the chopped and dried forage can be baled.  Baling reduce the storage space and facilitates the transport of the forage to the market.

The chopped and dried forage can be stored at the farm in the same way as wheat bhusa is done in thatched or mud-covered stacks or in buildings normally used for storing wheat bhusa or rice straw.

Hay is made when the production of fodder is in excess of consumption. Good-quality hay (dried forage) is as nutritious as the green forage.  It fetches higher price and helps to increase milk production

Authors:

Rakesh Choudhary and Suman Parihar

Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University,

Bikaner, Rajasthan 334006

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