Fruits and vegetables for dairy cows

The more nutritious 65% of available feeds in northern countries of Africa are consumed during the winter (rainfall) season. The animals suffer during the summer (dry) season from severe shortage of feed reflected in many imbalances due to deficiencies in nitrogen, soluble carbohydrates, vitamin A precursors and minerals. At the same time, these countries have considerable amounts of crop residues crops market wastes and agro-industrial by-products which are under-utilized. The amounts of unused by-products need to be surveyed. The fractions which could be directed to animal nutrition should be identified. Improving the nutritive value of low quality roughages can be achieved by arranging the consumption of nutritious and low quality ingredients to be regular over the whole year. Some of the winter materials (preserved as hay or silage) could be shifted to the summer season and vice versa. This will provide the animals with a more balanced diet over the year. Moreover, the non-traditional by-products should be used after proper processing (chopping and mixing) and supplementation with the deficient nutrients in the form of urea, molasses, vitamin A and minerals.