Study on Areca sheath as an alternate dry fodder for cattle

Abstract

Areca nut cultivation as a commercial crop, the nut, called supari in Bangla, is quite extensive in Cox’s bazaar, Chittagong, Noakhali, Comilla, Bhola, many regions of Bangladesh and there is a possibility of using the fallen areca leaf sheath as an alternate resource. Areca leaf sheath has been evaluated for use as a fodder. The present study was conducted to evaluate the proximate composition of areca leaf sheath after its dried and shredded form. The laboratory analysis of areca sheath samples for its nutritional composition showed almost similar composition to rice straw. The DM, CP, CF, EE, NFE, total ash and sand silica content of areca sheath was 88.2, 1.9, 59.5, 0.1, 22.8, 3.9 and 2.2 percent, respectively. The total digestible nutrient was 49.3% of areca leaf sheath in DM basis. After finishing the laboratory task in CVASU, then compared to rice straw, found similar nutritional composition and minerals were better in dried areca leaf sheath. From this study it can be recommended that this unconventional dry leaf sheath may be used as safely cattle feed as alternative to rice straw in the diet of livestock.