K.M. Bujarbaruah

Mineral profiling of local pig-feeds and pigs reared under resource driven production system to reduce porcine mineral deficiency in subtropical hill ecosystem of Northeastern India

The present study assessed the mineral status of pigs fed with local feed resources. The commonly used plants for feeding pigs and blood serum samples from Hampshire, Large White Yorkshire and indigenous pigs were analyzed for total protein, albumin and cholesterol levels. Processed plant and serum samples were also analyzed for calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, copper, cobalt, manganese, iron and zinc. The incidence and extent of mineral deficiency in pigs was quantified. No significant difference was observed in total protein and albumin levels between any two breed/types of pigs, however the Indigenous pigs showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher cholesterol level compared to other two breeds. Among different plants, Spilanthus sp had majority of macro and micro nutrients in high levels. Regarding incidence of mineral deficiency in pigs, it was observed that 90, 67.1, 61.4, 48.6, 95.7% of the pigs were deficient in calcium, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium and potassium. An interesting finding was that all the pigs (100%) utilized in the study were deficient in zinc. From this study, it was inferred that there are good numbers of potential source of mineral that might be used more economically to improve the mineral availability to pigs.

Soil–plant–animal continuum in relation to macro and micro mineral status of dairy cattle in subtropical hill agro ecosystem

The purpose of the present study was to study the soil–plant–animal continuum in subtropical hilly areas. Soil (n = 96), fodder (n = 96), and blood serum samples from dairy cattle (n = 120) were collected from eight districts of Mizoram, a hilly state in India. The samples were digested using diacid mixture (HNO3:HClO4; 10:4) and analyzed for macro (Ca, P, Mg, Na, and K) and micro (Cu, Co, Mn, Fe, and Zn) mineral concentrations. The macro and micro mineral concentrations varied among the different districts. The correlation values between fodder and cattle were significant for all the minerals studied except for P and K. The correlation value between fodder and cattle was highly significant (P < 0.01) for Ca (0.878), Mg (0.88), Cu (0.885), and Zn (0.928). However, such correlations were not observed between the mineral levels in cattle and mineral levels in soil except for Ca (0.782). Equations developed in the present study for prediction of Ca (R2 = 0.797), Mg (R2 = 0.777), Zn (R2 = 0.937), Fe (R2 = 0.861), and Cu (R2 = 0.794) had significant R2 values. Further, it is inferred that dairy cattle reared under smallholder production system were deficient in most of the minerals and supplementation of required minerals is essential for optimum production.