Efficacy of Supplementary Feeding of Bypass Fat and Area Specific Mineral Mixture on the Production and Reproductive Performance in Milch Buffaloes

India is predominantly an agrarian society where dairy animals are the backbone of the rural economy and can be a influential tool for eradicating rural poverty, especially in the semi-arid ecosystem. The crop residues, forages and mature grass are the primary sources of livestock feeding during most of the year in almost all parts of the country. These feed and fodder don’t meet the needs of dairy animals in terms of nutrients, optimal reproductive function and long-term milk production (Khadda et al., 2014). High-yielding dairy animals, such as cows and buffaloes, require a high-energy diet during initial phase of lactation to support their milk yield, but supply is not appropriate with demand, thus influencing the production potential of animal. Bypass fat, also recognized as rumen-protected fat, is a dietary supplement feeding dairy animals to provide an additional energy source and improve their milk production and overall health. It is called “bypass” fat because it is formulated to bypass the rumen and get absorbed in the intestine, where the animal can more effectively utilize it. The main benefits of bypass fat for dairy animals are that it provides a concentrated source of energy, which can help increase milk production and maintain body condition and it also contains essential fatty acids that support overall health and fertility. In lactating dairy animals are fed bypass fat during the early stages of lactation, the harmful effects of negative energy balance might be mitigated, resulting increase milk production (Mobeen et al., 2019; Hifzulrahman et al., 2020; Roy and Singh, 2020). Mineral deficiency in dairy animals is the foremost cause of poor growth rate; suppress body immunity, decreased milk yield and various reproductive disorders (Bindari et al., 2013). Majority of study was carried out at farm level and separately for bypass fat or mineral mixture supplementation. There is a need to assess the impact of both supplementary feeding (bypass fat and mineral mixture supplementation) feed together to dairy animals at farmer's field. Considering the aforementioned details, the effectiveness of supplementary feeding of bypass fat and area specific mineral mixture on milch buffalo and scarcity of findings on such aspects under field conditions, an attempt was made to evaluate the effect of bypass fat and area specific mineral mixture on the overall performance of milch buffalo and also determined the cost-effectiveness of supplements under field conditions of Punjab, India.

A research trial was undertaken at farmer’s field to assess the effectiveness bypass fat and area specific mineral mixture on overall performance of milch buffalo under the project of assessment, refinement, validation and adoption of frontline technologies and researchable issue through KVK's during 2022-23. Twenty Murrah buffaloes in early phase of lactation were selected and were divided equally in two groups of 10 buffaloes in each group, i.e. T1 (control) and T2 (supplementation bypass fat @ 100 g and area specific mineral mixture supplementation @ 50 g/day/ buffalo beside the farmer practices). All animals were managed under farmers’ own traditional feeding and managerial system. The buffaloes were selected at nearly the same body weight, parity, lactation stage and milk yield. KVK scientists organized training to benefited livestock keepers. The bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture was procured from the Department of Animal Nutrition, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. In the treatment group (T2), consistent supplies of bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture as supplementations were offered without interruption during the entire period of study. To manage internal parasites, fenbendazole was used to deworm every animal prior to the experiment’s commencement. The buffaloes were fed the feed separately and the percentage intake per head per day was also recorded. The drinking water was offered ad-lib. The data recording of trial was carried out for 150 days. The milk recording was conducted in the morning and evening time fortnightly. Milk samples from each buffalo were taken fortnightly at milking time and examined for milk composition i.e. SNF, milk fat, total solid, milk protein and lactose by milk scanner  and 6% fat correct milk was computed using the formula (Rice et al., 1970) :        
Reproductive performance concerning the onset of post-partum estrus, service period and AI per conception was also recorded. The significance of the difference between treatment means was evaluated using the Student¢s t-test after statistically analyzing the data in a completely randomized design (Snedecor and Cochran, 1989).

The proximate composition of feed and forage consumed by the buffalo while studying is presented in Table 1. The organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), cellulose, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), Hemi cellulose, acid detergent lignin (ADL) and ash content in the concentrate mixture were 90.50, 21.40, 5.10, 12.30, 34.50, 16.30, 18.20, 5.40 and 10.10 per cent, respectively. The proximate composition of feed and fodder consumed by buffalo was more or less similar to that reported by Khadda et al., (2023). 
 

 
Effect on body weight and feed intake
 
The addition of bypass fat and mineral mixture did not alter the body weights of the buffaloes under experimentation (Table 2). The data related to dry matter intake during the study period was found to be 13.40±0.04 and 13.84±0.06 kg/d in T1 and T2 groups, respectively (Table 2). Supplementary feeding of bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture did not influenced the DM intake (in terms of kg/d and DMI %) in lactating buffaloes which could be attributed to inertness of the added fat in the rumen because of its low solubility. More or less similar results were also published by Sadrasaniya et al., (2022) and Mane et al., (2017) for dairy animals.
 

 
Effect on yield and composition of milk
 
The findings from supplementary feeding showed that while both groups initially had similar milk yields, the average milk production during the supplementation period was 10.19±0.36 and 12.13±0.43 liters/day in groups T1 and T2, respectively; which represented a 19.04% increase in group T2 compared to the control group (Table 3). The results indicated that buffaloes under supplementing group (T2) produced significantly (P<0.05) higher average daily milk yield and 6 % FCM yield in contrast to the check. Buffaloes in group T2 produced 23.83 per cent higher 6% FCM than control (T1). More FCM production in buffalo indicated better utilization of nutrients due to bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture supplementation. The enhance in milk yield resulting from the supplementation of bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture could largely be attributed to improved energy balance without affecting digestion and by stimulating the basket cells or myoepithelial cells of the udder thereby increasing the lactation performance (Mervat-Foda et al., 2009). Milk fat was significantly (P<0.05) higher in group T2 (7.21±0.46) as compared with control. Kirovski et al., (2015) also reported increased milk fat content as a consequence of feeding protected fat. The average lactometer reading of milk was higher in group T2 than control. There was no discernible difference in SNF, milk protein and lactose content among the treatment which indicated that SNF, milk protein and lactose content was unaffected by supplementation of bypass fat and mineral mixture in lactating buffaloes. Whereas, in case of total solid analysis of data revealed that the total solid content in milk was significantly higher in treatment group than control.
 

 
Effect on reproductive performance
 
The postpartum estrus period, service period and number of AI per conception under treatments and control groups are given in Table 4. The average length of postpartum estrus period (62.20±5.86 days) and service period (82.49±7.46days) was decreased significantly (P<0.05) in supplemented group than control (86.40±11.57days and 131.00±12.33 days, respectively) at farmers field. The services per conception was also observed to be significantly (P<0.05) higher in non- supplemented group than the supplemented group. The number of AI per conceptions in supplemented group and control group was recorded 1.39±0.33 and 2.71±0.44, respectively. The results showed that supplementation of bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture in the diet significantly (P<0.05) influenced the postpartum reproductive performance in milch buffalo. The results of the present study corroborate with the findings of (Butani et al., 2016, Khadda et al., 2016 and Patel et al., 2020) reported that the supplementary feeding of bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture improved the reproductive performance of dairy animals reared on straw based diets. Enhancement in reproductive efficiency in these dairy animals supplemented with bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture containing calcium, phosphorus, iodine, zinc, copper, sulphur, fluorine, lead, arsenic and silica has been attributed to various factors. Minerals have a beneficial role on endocrine system and play an significant role in resumption of follicular growth and fertility in dairy animals. Phosphorus is linked with energy metabolism and its deficiency results in delayed sexual maturity, anestrous, repeat breeding and irregular estrous cycle. Hence, the favorable effects of energy and mineral supplements on the neuro-endocrine axis and reproductive functions may be responsible for the improvement in reproductive efficiency seen in the present study.
 

 
Economics of supplementary feeding
 
A fractional budget analysis approach was applied to those incomes and expense elements. As a result, the market price of concentrate, bypass fat, fodder and area-specific mineral mixture have all been taken into account (Khadda et al., 2023). The family members were used to manage the buffaloes in both groups, so, the cost of labor was not taken into account in the computation. The price of used inputs was computation on the base of the market rates prevailing during the study period. The bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture procured from Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana @ Rs. 170/- and 90/- per kg, respectively. Marketing price of milk received by respondents during trial period was taken Rs. 60/ lit. The average feeding cost per liter of milk produced in the treatment and control groups was found to be Rs. 17.44 and Rs. 18.65, respectively, which indicates that, in field conditions, dietary supplementation with bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture significantly decreased the cost of producing milk (Table 5). Net return over feed cost of milk yield per day per animal in T1 and T2 group was found to be Rs. 421.40 and 516.30, respectively. Additional cost and income of supplementary feeding to milch buffalo was found Rs.21.50 and 116.40 day/ buffalo, respectively. The supplementation of bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture to milch buffalo was found to be give additional profit of Rs. 94.90/ - per buffalo /day. Benefit-cost ratio of 1: 3.44 was obtained during the trial period with bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture supplementation, which seems to be quite profitable compared to traditional feeding methods.
 

It could be inferred from the observations that the supplementary feeding of bypass fat and area-specific mineral mixture improved the milk yield and its composition as well as postpartum reproductive performance in milch buffalo at farmer’s field. All the farmers readily accepted this practice for dairy animals and are also willing to continue.

The authors are thankful to Director, ICAR- ATARI, zone -1, Ludhiana and Vice Chancellor, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana for providing the funds and facilities for this study.

On the behalf of all authors of the manuscript, I declare that we have no conflict of interest.