Fodder production Introduction Fodder crops are cultivated plant species that are utilized as livestock feed. Fodder refers mostly the crops which are harvested and used for stall feeding. On the other hand forages refer to the vegetative matter, fresh or preserved, utilized as feed for animals and include all fodders such as grasses, legumes, crucifers and other crops cultivated and used as hay or silage in a preserved form or utilized through grazing.

WHY GREEN FODDER? The feeding of green fodder (grass, legume or cereal fodder) is always economical. The feeding of concentrates or compounded feed may give high output per unit of feed may not be economically viable always for the countries like where grains, oilcakes and milling byproducts are scarce and costly. In most of the farming situations, feeding concentrates or compounded feed will increase the cost of feeding which in turn raise the cost of production. On the other hand, an animal yielding on average of 5-6 liters of milk per day can be comfortably maintained with feeding of green fodder only (grass or cereal fodder and legumes) without any supplementation of concentrates. It is not economical for the farmer to have intensive dairy, sheep or goat farm without sufficient provision for green fodder or dry fodder throughout the year. If the land resource is scarce, a farmer can have suitable agroforestry models to increase the forage production per unit area.

HOW FODDERS ARE CLASSIFIED? There are different types of classification available. However, the following two classifications are more easy to understand and adopt. Classification of fodder on the basis of season of cultivation Kharif fodder (June – September) : Eg . Cowpea, Field bean, Bajra, Sorghum, Maize Rabi fodder (October – Dec/Jan) : Eg. Berseem, Lucerne, Oats, Barley etc., Summer fodders (April – June) : Eg. cowpea, Maize, Field bean, Sorghum, Bajra etc. Classification based on Plant family and duration of the crop Legumes (Annual and Perennial) : Eg. Berseem, Cowpea, Stylo, HedgeLucerne Non – legumes (Annual and Perenial) : Eg. Hybrid Napier, Guinea grass, Fodder maize, Fodder sorghum etc.

Legumes Legumes are the most important component of animal fodder in view of their high content of crude protein (20 – 25%) compared to fodder cereals (8 – 12%) and fodder grasses (5 – 10%). Non leguminous fodders (Cereal and grass) provided much of the required energy (carbohydrates) for livestock while legumes improve the quality of fodders when mixed with non-leguminous fodders. Green fodders of non-legumes are fed in bulk quantities (about 10% of body weight of the animal) whereas that of legumes are fed in small quantities (1-2% of body weight). If legumes are fed in bulk, it may create problems like bloat in animals.

Non-legumes Non legumes refer to all grasses belonging to the family of plants, gramineae comprising 450 genera and more than 6000 species distributed throughout the world. Grasses considerably vary in their habits, size and habitat. Some grasses are annuals, while others are perennials. Another group of non-legumes is the Cereal fodders. They play an important role in the feeding of dairy animals. Farmers in general are not growing cereals exclusively for fodder purpose. Rather they grow them mainly (straw / stover) is used as cattle feed. But such straw/stover are very poor in their nutritive value compared to their value as green fodder. However there are varieties available in the cereal group exclusively meant for fodder purpose and in such a case the crop should not be allowed for grain setting.

WHICH FODDER CROP TO CHOOSE? It is highly essential to select the right choice of crops to cultivate. This depends on the soil type, soil fertility status, agro climatic conditions, water availability, kind and number of livestock reared etc. However, it is advisable to grow legume as an intercrop along with grass or cereal fodder in order to make the fodder more nutritious. Given below is the list of forage crops that are recommended for Tamil Nadu. The other source for the livestock feed is the natural grazing resources available in the Common Property Resources.(ie. Lake, bunds, common grazing grounds, roadsides etc).

IMPROVED VARIETIES FOR FORAGE CROPS SUITABLE FOR TAMIL NADU S. No Name of the crop Special features Cereal Forages 1 Sorghum CO FS - 29 Multicut variety (5-6 cuttings per year) Suitable for irrigated farming 2 Sorghum Co – 27 (60 – 65 days) Thin stem, ratoonability, drought tolerant 3 Bajra Co – 8 (50 -55 days) Soft stem, high leaf stem ratio, highly palatable Grasses Hybrid napier Co - 1 High yield and Drought tolerant Hybrid napier Co - 2 Hybrid napier Co - 3 High yield, High leaf stem ratio and Highly palatable and low oxalate content 4 Guinea grass (Co – 1 & C0 -2) Shade tolerant and thin stem 5 Kollukattai (Blue Anjan) Co – 1 Cenchrus glaucus Highly suitable for rainfed and pasture lands, High bio mass yield and drought tolerant 6 Deenanath Thin Stem and highly palatable

High yield and cuscuta resistant ( a parasitic weed) 2 Cont… Legumes 1 Lucerne High yield and cuscuta resistant ( a parasitic weed) 2 Cowpea (60 – 65 days), (Co – 5) Early maturity 3 Desmanthus virgatus (Hedge lucerne) Tropical legume, High yield and palatability, Drought tolerant 4 Stylo spp Rain fed pasture legume and drought tolerant 5 Pudiya Soundal (Leucaena diversifolia) Highly suitable for rain fed condition, Psyllid tolerant, High yield

N.P.K kg/ha (Change as per soil test) HOW TO CULTIVATE? S.No Name of the crop Annual/ Perennial Seed rate kg/ha Spacing (cm) Basal FYM ( ton /ha) N.P.K kg/ha (Change as per soil test) Days to harvest (days) Cereal fodder 1 Fodder Sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) Annual 50-60 30 x 10 12.5 30-40-20 60 to 65 C0.F.S 29 Mulitcut 25.0 Every 65 days 2 Fodder Maize (Zea mays) 40-50 60-40-20 65 to 70 3 Fodder Bajra (penniseltum americanum) 8-10 25-30-12 60 - 65

N.P.K kg/ha (Change as per soil test) Cont… S.No Name of the crop Annual/ Perennial Seed rate kg/ha Spacing (cm) Basal FYM ( ton /ha) N.P.K kg/ha (Change as per soil test) Days to harvest (days) Grass Fodder 4 Napier Bajra hybrid (Co-1, Co-2, Co-3) Napier X Bajra Perennial 40000 nos. 50 X 50 25 50-50-40 First harvest 75 days, then once in 45 days 5 Guinea grass (Hamil or Makuni) (Panicum maximum)

Cont… 6 Para grass ( Buffalo or Water grass) (Brachiaria mutica) Perennial 40000 nos. 50 X 50 10 40-50-40 First harvest 75 days, then once in 45 days 120 7 Deenanath grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum) Annual 20-25 30 x 10 60 - 65 40 8 Kollukattai grass (Buffel, Anjan, Dhaman, African Fox Tail grass) (Cenchrus ciliaris white variety) (Cenchrus setigerus – Black variety) (Cenchrus glaucus – Blue buffel) 50 X 30 25-40-20 First harvest 70 days, then once in 50 days

First harvest 60 days, then once in 30 days Cont… *Sown as continuous rows Leguminous fodder 9 Lucerne (Alfalfa or Kudirai masal) (Medicago sativa) Perennial 15 -20 20 cm* 25 25-120-40 First harvest 60 days, then once in 30 days 80 10 Berseem (Egyptian clover) (Trifolium alexandrinum) 25-100-30 60

First harvest 70 days, then once in 45 days Cont… 11 Hedge lucerne (Velimasal) (Desmanthus virgatus Perennial 12 - 15 50 cm* 25 25-100-30 First harvest 70 days, then once in 45 days 125 12 Cowpea (Karamani or Thattaipayaru) (Vigna unguiculata) Annual 20 - 25 30 x 15 25-40-20 60 t0 65 30 13 Sangu Pushpam (Clitoria ternaeta) 15 45 x 10 20-40-12 75 14 Muyal masal (Stylosanthus scabra) (S.hamata) 10 20-60-12 35 Siratro (Macroptilum atro purpureaum) 8

Cont… 16 Centro (Centrosema pubescens) Perennial 5 30 x 15 25 20-40-12 75 17 Calopogonium 4 70 18 Dolichos lab lab (Avarai) (Field bean) Annual 30 45 x 30 19 Sun hemp (Sanappai) (Crotalaria juntia) 20 20 x 15 10 60 Desmodium tortuosum (Aattu masal) *Seeds are sown continuously so that the plant spacing within the row would be closer