Vegetable wastes as an alternative to conventional feeds for the livestock of Bangladesh

Abstract

The study was undertaken during 16th July to 16th November 2012 to observe the chemical composition of different types of vegetable wastes available in Rangunia upazilla of Chittagong district, Bangladesh. Total 11 (6 vegetable peel/skin and 5 leaves) different types of feed samples were collected from the study areas. Chemical analyses of the samples were carried out in triplicate for moisture, dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), nitrogen free extracts (NFE), ether extracts (EE) and total ash in the animal nutrition laboratory, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Results indicated that, all samples had substantial amount of proximate components that might have been used as alternative feed resource for dairy cattle. Crude protein content in bottle gourd peel was 7.0 g/100g, pumpkin peel 16.5 g/100g, brinjal peel 12.3 g/100g, potato peel 13 g/100g, green banana peel 7g/100g, ripe banana peel 6.8g/100g, bottle gourd leaf 33.6 g/100g, bean leaf 28.2 g/100g, tiger’s claw leaf 18.4 g/100g, sal tree leaf 16.3 g/100g and pithraj leaf 15.3 g/100g. It could therefore, be inferred that, these vegetable wastes might be used as an alternative feed resource for dairy animals in scarcity of traditional feeds if available at cheaper price.