Influence of varying levels of supplemental cassava root meal without or with groundnut cake on performance of growing Laisind cattle.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplementation of varying levels of cassava root meal (CRM, 300 and 1,000 g), without or with 700 g groundnut cake (GNC) on intake and performance of growing Laisind cattle fed with a basal diet of urea-treated rice straw (URTRS). Twenty-four male cattle of crossbred Laisind (50% Red Sindhi and 50 % local Yellow, both Bos indicus), from 15 to 17 months of age, 165-175 kg body weight, were used. They were assigned to a completely randomized block design in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (two CRM levels and two GNC levels). Intake of URTRS (interaction, P < 0.01) and digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (interaction, P < 0.05) decreased as CRM level increased on the diets without GNC but was not affected by CRM level on the diets with GNC. The total dry matter intake (interaction, P < 0.05) and live weight gain (LWG) (interaction, P < 0.001) increased as CRM level increased on the diets with GNC, but no difference was observed on the diets without GNC. In conclusion, supplementation of 1,000 g CRM should be in combination with 700 g GNC to avoid the negative effects on URTRS intake and digestibility, therefore improving LWG of growing Laisind cattle fed on a URTRS-based diet.