Course Overview

This is a vital course focused on the principles and practices of animal nutrition. This program is designed for all stakeholders involved in livestock and poultry farming, with the aim to proliferate the benefits of balanced feeding. 

As global livestock rearing continues to evolve, a country like India, despite holding the world's largest livestock population, suffers from lower productivity. The root cause of this predicament is found to be nutritional inadequacies. Notably, feed constitutes 50-80% of livestock production costs. Hence, optimizing feeding with balanced rations and efficient usage of locally available feed resources will significantly enhance the profitability of livestock farming.

Worldwide research has standardized livestock and poultry feeding, but a noticeable gap persists between the scientific advancements in this area and their adoption at the farmer level. This course intends to bridge this gap through a comprehensive capacity building approach.

By participating in our program, farmers and other stakeholders will gain an understanding of the latest technologies for livestock and poultry feeding. In addition to enhancing adoption, it will foster a strong relationship between technology providers and users. The course will cover important aspects such as the selection of quality feed ingredients, feeding management best practices, feed analysis, and detection of adulterants, to ensure high-quality finished feed, thereby promoting increased animal productivity.

Course Audience

  • Practising veterinarians
  • Veterinarians of the State Animal Husbandry Departments, State Veterinary and Agricultural Universities, Krishi
  • Vigyan Kendras and other outreach centres.
  • Students pursuing internship/final/pre-final in veterinary sciences and poultry management and post-graduates of animal production subjects
  • Any graduate of life sciences interested in Livestock/Poultry feed management
  • Progressive livestock/poultry farmers/entrepreneurs/feed manufacturers/feed plant owners and their staff/feed laboratory analysts

This course material is available as an accessible digital book.

Learning Outcomes
  • Optimal utilization of feed and fodder resources including unconventional feed.
  • Feed additives and supplements.
  • Nutrient specifications and ration formulation.
  • Feeding management in the prevention of production diseases.
  • Specialised feeding techniques to produce designer meat/milk/egg.
  • Methane emission mitigation strategies through feeding.
  • Quality check of feed ingredients and finished feeds by conventional methods and NIR.
Syllabus
  • Feed / Fodder resources and their utilization
  • Dairy cattle nutrition – a practical approach
  • Sheep and goat nutrition – a practical approach
  • Poultry Nutrition – a practical approach
  • Swine nutrition – a practical approach
  • Quality assurance of animal feeds