Effect of azolla as feed supplement on milk production of lactating buffaloes at Neemuch district Madhya Pradesh

Azolla holds the promise of providing a sustainable feed for livestock. Azolla, a floating fern reported to be a very good source of protein, essential mineral elements and vitamins for livestock. The present study was undertaken to know effect of feeding azolla on milk production performance (milk yield, fat%, SNF%) of lactating buffaloes under field conditions. A total of 40 lactating buffaloes were selected and categorized into two groups each having 20 buffaloes. The animals in control group (T0) were fed on conventional ration of paddy straw, green fodder and concentrate mixture as per recommendation of NRC. In the treatment group (T1) 2 kg of fresh azolla was supplemented over conventional ration. The effect of fresh Azolla supplementation in lactating buffaloes was studied in an early lactation period of 90 days. The average milk yield (kg/d) was found significantly higher (P<0.05) in T1(7.4 +/- 0.08) than T0 (6.5 +/- 0.13). On an average milk yield increase by 0.9 L/day over control group animals. These results showed that supplementing of azolla caused an increase in milk yield by 13.8 %. The average percentage of milk fat, milk protein, SNF showed no significant difference between two groups but the fat% was found higher in T1 as compared to T0. Peak milk yield was also found significantly (P<0.05) higher in azolla fed group than the control group. Thus, it can be concluded that azolla can serve as a potential alternative nutrient supplement for the lactating buffaloes for the improvement of productivity in terms of milk specially where/when green fodder availability is scanty. However, further studies are needed for determining the replacement amount of azolla for concentrate to make it cost effective for farmers.