M. Wadhwa, M.P.S. Bakshi and Harinder P.S. Makkar

Empty pea pods is an important byproduct of pea production. It is a valuable feed for livestock. Empty pea pods can be offered fresh alone or with waste-resources such as cull carrots. In the dried form they can be included in rations with forage legume hay like berseem. They can be ensiled with other byproducts such as wheat straw and then fed. This article provides information on the composition and nutritive value of empty pea pods and the ways they can be used to feed livestock.

Harinder Makkar

Ergot is a disease of cereal crops and grasses that is caused by fungi of the Claviceps genus. Claviceps includes about 50 known species, mostly in tropical regions. The sclerotia of Claviceps species are known as ergot. The fungi produce ergot alkaloids, also denoted ergolines, which are responsible for a disease called ergotism in livestock and humans. The article presents the symptoms of ergotism in animals, and the treatments and feed regulations associated with ergot.

By John Moran (Profitable Dairy Systems, Kyabram, Victoria, Australia) and Geoff Walker (Land O’ Lakes, Dhaka, Bangladesh)

With increasing per capita consumption of milk and other dairy products throughout developing countries, virtually every country in southern Asia is seeking to increase its domestic production of raw milk. However, the continuous use of certain traditional practices (feeding, watering, stock management, housing and comfort) in smallholder dairy farms has adversely impacted on the rate of development of such dairy industries. We have a challenge to ensure that better models, such as those used in Vietnam and Thailand, are spread much more widely than is the case at present in traditional dairying sectors such as in Bangladesh and other countries in the Indian subcontinent.

By V. Baeten and P. Dardenne

The use of near-infrared (NIR) technologies for the detection of contaminants and undesirable substances in food and feed products is not widely practised. There have been many papers, however, on extensive studies on this topic (see Baeten et al., 2015). They have demonstrated some unique advantages of using this fingerprinting technique in the continuing effort to give the stakeholders the means to detect contaminants at all stages of the food and feed chains.