Dairying is an integral part of small-holder farming systems as well as an important source of subsidiary income for most households in Bihar, India and most farmers keep 2-3 cattle. Nevertheless, the per-capita milk availability in Bihar is very low (175 g/d) compared to the Indian average (290 g/d) in 2011-12 as productivity is low, mainly because current feeding is based mainly on crop residues (wheat and rice straw). Constraints to improving these feeding practices include limited farm resources, weak support services and poor knowledge on nutrient requirements and contents. The present study examines the effect of a balanced concentrate feed on livestock productivity in Samastipur and Muzaffarpur districts of Bihar, in comparison to existing feeding practices.

1. An
analysis
of
dissemina.on
of
livestock
feed
technology:
The
case
of
Bihar
in
Eastern
India
Dhiraj
Kumar
Singh,
Braja
Swain
and
Nils
Teufel
Introduc:on
v Dairy
farming
in
Bihar
is
a
major
source
of
income
for
small-­‐scale
and
marginal
farmers.
v There
are
constraints
to
effec:ve
transforma:on
of
dairy
produc:on
from
a
subsistence-­‐oriented
to
a
profitable
commercial
venture.
v High
cost
of
commercial
feed
along
with
low
quality
of
available
feed
hinders
animal
produc:vity
and
limits
economic
returns
from
dairy
produc:on.
v ILRI’s
laboratory
analysis
indicates
quality
limita:ons
especially
in
metabolizeable
energy
and
diges:bility
of
available
feed
resources.
v To
increase
availability
of
quality
feed,
ILRI
has
formulated
a
balanced
concentrate
feed
based
on
locally
available
ingredients/
resources
in
2011-­‐12.
v With
support
from
the
Cereal
Systems
Ini:a:ve
for
South
Asia
(CSISA)
project
and
in
collabora:on
with
na:onal
partners,
a
series
of
training
and
demonstra:on
ac:vi:es
was
implemented
to
disseminate
this
feed
technology
in
CSISA-­‐Bihar
hub
sites.
v This
study
presents
the
results
from
the
analysis
of
data
on
adop:on
and
dissemina:on
of
this
feed
technology.
The
results
indicate
that
the
rate
of
adop:on
of
ILRI-­‐CSISA
feed
technology
is
low
Pictures
Materials
and
methods
v 20%
of
farmers
who
have
par:cipated
in
training
are
using
the
ILRI-­‐CSISA
promoted
feed
compared
to
6%
of
the
non-­‐
par:cipants.
v Among
non-­‐par:cipant
sample
farmers,
28%
have
heard
about
ILRI-­‐CSISA
promoted
feed.
v Neighbors
are
main
source
of
informa:on
about
the
technology
among
farmers
who
did
not
par:cipate
in
training,
followed
by
CSISA
project
field
staff.
v Par:cipant
farmers
have
shared
the
informa:on
on
how
to
prepare
the
ILRI-­‐CSISA
promoted
feed
to
more
than
1200
farmers.
v Knowledge
of
most
of
farmers
on
concentrate
feed
has
improved
aXer
the
training.
v Improving
awareness
of
this
feed
technology
through
training
and
demonstra:on
ac:vi:es
will
facilitate
increased
adop:on
among
dairy
farmers
in
Bihar.
Dhiraj
Kumar
Singh
Interna:onal
Livestock
Research
Ins:tute
(ILRI)
d.singh@cgiar.org
●
9th
Floor,
Aggarwal
Corporate
Tower,
Rajendra
Place,
New
Delhi,
India
●
+91
11
6621
9320
www.ilri.org
Acknowledgements:
Funding
support
from
the
Cereal
System
Ini:a:ves
in
South
Asia
(CSISA)
Project
and
the
Interna:onal
Livestock
Research
Ins:tute
(ILRI)
This
document
is
licensed
for
use
under
a
Crea:ve
Commons
Aaribu:on
–Non
commercial-­‐Share
Alike
3.0
Unported
License
September
2014
September
2014
v Two
stage
sampling
method
(stra:fied
and
random)
was
followed
to
select
the
360
farm
households
in
two
blocks
of
Smas:pur,
Bihar
v Out
of
360
surveyed
households,
159
par:cipated
in
training
or
trials
while
the
others
did
not.
v Data
were
collected
using
structured
ques:onnaires
and
processed
using
SurveyBe
soXware.
v Descrip:ve
sta:s:cal
analysis
was
used
to
analyze
the
survey
data.
Results
Conclusion