Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 7 (2): 297-302, 2008 ISSN 1680-5194 © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2008 297 Evaluation of Selected Species of Tree Fodders Cultivated for Feeding Ruminants in the Hills of Nepal R.C. Khanal and C.R. Upreti* Animal Nutrition Division, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, P.O. Box 1950, Kathmandu, Nepal Abstract: Leaves and twigs from four species of tree fodders, Artocarpus lakoocha (AL), Bauhinia purpurea (BP), Garuga pinnata (GP) and Ficus roxburghii (FR), cultivated widely for feeding ruminants in the hills of Nepal and maintained at the Agriculture Research Station (Goat), Bandipur were investigated for their chemical composition and nutrient intake, digestibility and growth rate in growing female goats. Differences occurred between species of tree fodders on nutrient composition, which contained 286, 342, 312 and 263 g kgG DM; 174, 98, 116 and 178 g kgG total ash; 137, 163, 140 and 119 g kgG CP; 440, 458, 437 and 451 1 1 1 g kgG NDF; 383, 407, 382 and 406 g kgG ADF; 177, 135, 181 and 143 g kgG ADL; 19.5, 21.6, 20.9 and 29.3 1 1 1 g kgG Ca; and 2.2, 2.8, 2.4 and 2.5 g kgG P on DM basis for AL, BP, GP and FR, respectively. The DM intake 1 1 was higher for goats fed AL (432 g/d) and GP (428 g/d) than BP (342 g/d) or FR (306 g/d). Nutrient digestibility was higher for goats fed AL and GP, except Ca, which was higher for goats fed FR. Similarly, highest daily weight gain was observed for goats fed AL (71 g/d) and GP (64 g/d) than either of BP (54 g/d) or FR (30 g/d). Overall, leaves and twigs from these tree fodders supported moderate growth, but may not be advisable for maximum ruminant production. Key words: Tree fodders, nutritive value, digestibility, performance, goat Introduction Fodder trees are grown in the hills of Nepal from time immemorial. Their importance in supplying fodder, fuel wood, protection of soil erosion and environment and some other household needs has been well documented (Pandey, 1982). Inadequate feed supply and poor nutrition during the dry winter and early summer season (mid-January through mid-May) are the major constraints to increasing ruminant production in the hills of Nepal (Kiff et al., 1999). Of the 75 administrative districts in the country, 50 were found to be <80% sufficient in supplies of livestock feed (Schreier et al., 1991). Leaves and twigs collected from several species of fodder trees cultivated in a great variety of soil and climatic condition are a main source of green forage for ruminants during dry winter and early summer months and help maintain the body condition and production of ruminants. Khanal and Subba (2001) described the nutritional characteristics of leaves and twigs from 31 species of fodder trees cultivated in the hills of Nepal. Khanal et al. (1999) have determined the proximate composition, detergent fibers and Ca and P contents of both cultivated and uncultivated tree fodders and browse plants available mostly in the western hills of Nepal. Similarly, Subba (1998) has determined the detail chemical composition of leaves from those available in the eastern hills of Nepal. Subba (1999) also ranked them according to various nutritional characteristics. On the other hand, farmers have their own preference based on their age-old practices in the cultivation and feeding of leaves and twigs from various species of tree fodders. Realizing this, Thorne et al. (1999) and Walker et al. (1999) attempted to derive a biological interpretation of indigenous knowledge system with regards to the quality of tree fodders and consistency and discriminatory power of indigenous and laboratory assessment of the nutritive values of tree fodders available in Nepal. Thorne et al. (1999) also attempted to find the potential complementarities between indigenous and laboratory-based indicators of tree fodder quality. However, part of their interpretation was based not on actual animal performance, but on in vitro studies. As a result, several of these authors pointed out the need to investigate on the quality of various fodder trees and shrubs based on the actual performance of ruminants. This would ultimately help reduce the severity of scarcity of feed and fodder and maintain ruminant production. Therefore, objective of this study was to investigate the performance of goats fed leaves and twigs from four species of selected fodder trees commonly cultivated in the hills of Nepal. Materials and Methods Sixteen female growing Khari goats with an average initial weight of 8.89±0.6 kg and age of 140±20 days were selected for the study. Animals were blocked according to their initial body weight. Within block animals were allotted at random to one of four treatments, i.e., species of tree fodders selected for the