171 Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology (2016) 16: 171-179 doi: 10.5958/0974-181X.2016.00016.0 *Corresponding author: dr_rajakishore@yahoo.co.in Fermentation Pattern in Murrah Buffalo Bulls Fed Crop Residue Based Complete Rations vis-a-vis Conventional Feeding System Department of Animal Nutrition, NTR College of Veterinary Science Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Gannavaram-521 102, India (Received April 1, 2013) ABSTRACT Konka R.K., Srinivas Kumar, D., Ramana, J.V., Ravi, A. and Raghava Rao, E. 2016. Fermentation pattern in murrah buffalo bulls fed crop residue based complete rations vis-a-vis conventional feeding system. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 16: 171-179. The experiment compared the effect of feeding complete rations with conventional feeding system on rumen fermentation pattern of Murrah buffalo bulls. Four adult rumen fistulated buffalo bulls (5 y; 331±9.36 kg BW) were divided into four groups in a 4 x 4 Latin square switch over design and offered three isonitrogenous complete rations comprising of locally available crop residues viz. maize stover (T 1 ), red gram straw (T 2 ) and black gram straw (T 3 ), and concentrate mixture in 60:40 ratio, respectively, and a conventional ration (C) for a period of 28 days. The rumen- N fractions (NH 3 -N, TCA-insoluble nitrogen, Residual nitrogen), TVFA and pH were higher (P<0.01) in the SRL of animals fed rations T 1 to T 3 when compared to those animals fed C. The total N, food and protozoal N was similar among the treatment groups. It is therefore, concluded that feeding of complete rations comprising of locally available crop residues as roughage source provided conducive rumen environment for better nitrogen utilization and higher TVFA production than conventional ration. Key words: Crop residues, Complete rations, Conventional feeding, Rumen fermentation. INTRODUCTION The large number of ruminant population in India demands immediate attention of animal nutritionists for the supply of nutrients to exhibit optimum productivity potentials (Waje et al., 2010). In India large quantities of crop residues are being produced locally every year, but they are not fully utilized for livestock feeding. Short Communication R.K. Konka*, D. Srinivas Kumar, J.V. Ramana, A. Ravi and E. Raghava Rao