Feeding Practices and Strategic Supplementation to Augment Milk Production in Kargil

In the first phase, a survey was carried out in 140 households to study the feeding practices for ruminants in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Chemical composition of commonly used feeds and fodders including tree leaves was determined. In second phase, 28 early lactating crossbred cows were divided in 4 groups and fed on basal diet of lucerne hay and straw ad lib in Group I, concentrate supplemented @ 2.0 kg/d/animal in Group II with basal diet, mineral mixture @ 50g/d/animal and concentrate @ 1.25 kg/d/animal supplemented with basal diet in Group III, mineral mixture 50 g and salt 10 g/d with concentrate @ 1.25 kg/d/animal with basal diets in Group IV to observe the effect of supplementation on milk production under field conditions of Kargil. Results indicated that all the farmers preferred hill grazing during summer and stall feeding during winter. Ninety eight percent farmers used community land for grazing for 165 days @13 hour/day in a year. This migratory grazing is preferred to maximize the income over stall feeding. The average milk production/cow/d reported by 17.88, 42.88 and 39.24% of farmers was more than 5.0, 2.5–5 and less than 2.5 lit per day, respectively. More than 80% farmers did not supplement concentrate and rest 20% either supplemented mineral mixture or salt to the early lactating animals only. Lucerne and mulberry leaves are good sources of protein whereas buckwheat may be an alternate to maize grain in the region. Supplementation of concentrate alone, mineral mixture alone or both increased milk production by 9.82, 3.38 and 13.03% over the control. Body condition score also improved due to supplementation of concentrate or mineral mixture. First observed estrous post partum and service per conception decreased due to supplementation in lactating animals. It was concluded that locally available feeds may be used judiciously and concentrate/mineral mixture supplementation is important to improve the milk production, gross income and health of the animals in high altitude of Ladakh.