Ludhiana's Veterinary University discusses use of paddy straw as animal feed

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 22

Paddy straw burning is a major environmental issue in the state, which poses a serious threat to human health. To explore use of paddy straw as animal feed, a workshop was organised by the Directorate of Extension Education, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), for animal scientists working at all krishi vigyan kendras (KVKs) of the state.

Dr Inderjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor, stressed on joint efforts of the PAU, GADVASU and line departments to make farmers aware about use of paddy straw as cheaper source of livestock nutrition.

He said of the 8 million tonnes of the rice straw being burnt in field, 0.8 million tonnes could be consumed by unproductive animals kept in gaushalas only.

Dr Rajbir Singh, Director, Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), advised scientists to find out reasons for less use of paddy straw in the state as compared to other states.

Dr JS Mahal, Director Extension Education, PAU, asked all KVKs to start trials to generate reliable data. During the workshop, treatment of paddy straw with urea and molasses to improve its nutritive value, making urea treated bales during harvesting and exporting to adjoining states were discussed, besides its alternate uses in livestock. Misconceptions about ill-effects of paddy straw feeding were also cleared by the scientists. Silica content of paddy straw can be greatly reduced by simply chaffing the straw while oxalates are highly soluble. So, soaking the paddy straw for a short while before feeding takes care of this issue as well.

Dr PS Brar, Director, Extension Education, GADVASU emphasised that instead of burning of paddy straw, its feeding for animal production could be a viable option for milk and meat production and thanked scientists for their inputs. Dr US Chahal said research trials would be carried out in near future to store and feed paddy straw as silage.