Straw and other agricultural residues have been used to livestock
feed with varying degrees of success. While some of these fibrous
materials may fulfill the maintenance requirements of adult animals
but they cannot supply adequate nutrients for the production of
milk, meat or wool. This is partly because they are low in protein,
minerals and digestible energy and intake is low. Despite the
limiting features straw has immense potential and can be used as
energy feed if its feeding value is improved through chemical or
biological procedures. There are different methods to improve the
quality of straw but most common method is urea treatment.
There has been a considerable amount of work done on the urea
treatment of straw. The recommended treatment rate is 40 g urea/kg
straw with the urea usually being added as a solution in water (40 g
urea/1 litre water) which is then sprinkled on the straw. The straw
may then either be fed straight away, or |
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ensiled for 10-15 days to enable the urea to degrade the fibre to
some extent. However, although there is considerable evidence of the beneficial
effects of treating straw with urea, the uptake of this technology
in all areas has been extremely low. A number of reasons have been
given for this, which include:
-
The cost and availability of the
urea
-
Lack of knowledge of the technology
-
Lack of benefit observed in farm
situation
-
Difficulty of practicing
technology
It
is important that if straw is treated with urea, the urea solution
is dispersed throughout the straw, and no ‘hot spots’ of high urea
concentration are produced.
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