Scope and Cost-Effectiveness of Fermented Corn Straw Roughage-Based Buffalo Fattening Approach

Objective: This experiment was undertaken to assess the scope and cost-effectiveness of the fermented corn mixture (FCM)-based buffalo fattening approach compared to urea molasses straw (UMS) and silage-based approach. Materials and Methods: A completely comparative randomized design experiment was conducted for 90 days with three treatments and five buffalo bulls in each. UMS, silage, and FCM roughage-based fattening diets were attributed as T-1, T-2, and T-3, respectively. Two types of protein supplements, i.e., Type 1 (Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute-developed) for T-1 and T-2 and Type 2 (prescribed by farmers) for T-3 treatments, were used. All the parameters were analyzed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, 20 software. Results: Dry matter intake (kg, %live weight) was significantly higher in T-1 (2.65), followed by T-2 (2.34) and T-3 (2.00), respectively. The crude protein intake, digestible crude protein intake, and digestible dry matter intake (kg/d) significantly (p < 0.05) differed between T-1 and T-3, but not T-2. The digestibility of acid detergent fiber (65.97) was significantly higher for T-3 than T-2 and T-2 (54.44 and 58.73, respectively). Neutral detergent fiber digestibility of T-3 (70.35) also differed (p < 0.05) with T-1 (60.97) but not T-2 (64.78). No difference was observed in the case of growth, but feed conversion ration was found to be significantly (p < 0.05) better in T-2 (7.10) than T-1 (8.35), where T-3 (7.24) was neutral. The significantly (p < 0.001) highest expense [216.37 Bangladesh taka (BDT)/kg gain] was required for T-1, followed by T-2 and T-3 (174.47 and 126.33 BDT/kg gain, respectively). Net profit from T-3 and T-2 (15,877 and 15,175 BDT, respectively) gained significantly (p < 0.05) higher than T-2 (11,265 BDT). Conclusion: The FCM-based diet was suitable and cost-effective as a buffalo fattening approach.