Research Article

How Nutritive are the Pasture Browse Species of Nepali Middle Hills?

Ram Prasad Ghimire

National Pasture and Fodder Research Program, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal.

Received | March 01, 2023; Accepted | November 20, 2023; Published | January 25, 2024

*Correspondence | Ram Prasad Ghimire, National Pasture and Fodder Research Program, Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal; Email: ramghimire.narc@gmail.com

Citation | Ghimire, R.P., 2024. How nutritive are the pasture browse species of Nepali middle hills? Sarhad Journal of Agriculture, 40(1): 73-81.

DOI | https://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.sja/2024/40.1.73.81

Keywords | Digestibility, Fodder, Goat, Intake, Nutrient composition, Weight gain

Copyright: 2024 by the authors. Licensee ResearchersLinks Ltd, England, UK.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Introduction

Goat farming has evolved from subsistence to commercial enterprises in recent years in Nepal. On the contrary, the researchers, development workers and entrepreneurs are not devoting ample efforts to the improvement of feeding management of the goats. Consequently, in the Western middle hills, most breeds of goats especially native hill goats (Khari) are raised by grazing during the daytime (Nepali et al., 2007; NAMDP, 2018). These goats are grazed on pasturelands and uncultivated lands, in forest buffer zones and community forests, and on other marginal lands. The foraging habit of goats indicates that they graze predominantly on shrubs and bushes of browse species in their pasturelands (Sanon et al., 2007). In the rearing practices prevalent in Nepali middle hills, they are often not supplemented with concentrate feeds or quality fodders before or after grazing. Their only source of roughage feed is the fodders consumed in the pasturelands (Dhakal et al., 2019).

Many browse species of natural bushes and vines are grazed by the Native hill goats in the pasturelands of the middle hills of Nepal. Dhayero (Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz), Musure katus (Castanopsis tribuloides (Sm.) Lindl.), Bamboo (Bamboosa arundinacea (Retz.) Willd.), Titepati (Artemisia vulgaris Willd.) and Sal ((Shorea robusta Roth.) are some of the most widespread browse species in the pasturelands of Western middle hills of Nepal (Ghimire, 2013). Other species, such as Saccharum spontaneum L., Rumex nepalensis Spreng., Fragaria nubicola Undl. Ex Lacaita, Drymaria cordata (L.) Willd., Potentilla microphylla D. Don., Gentiana capitata Buch. Hamex D. Don, Cotoneaster frigidus Wallich. Ex Lindley., Trigonella emodi Benth., Trifolium repens L., Ipomea purpurea Linn., Taraxacum officinalis Webb., Polygonum virginianum L., Anemone discolor Royle, Campanula aristata Wall., Lonicera lanceolate Wall., Rheum austral D. Don etc. are also used by the goats in these areas (Thapa et al., 2016). Moreover, Buddleja asiatica, Cajanus cajan, other Bamboo species, Vitex negundo, Thysanolaena maxima are some other species used by goats for browsing in the western middle hills of Nepal (Pandey et al., 2009).

Although the hill goats rely on these browse species for their roughage requirements, limited information about the fodder values of these browse species is available. As well as that, there is little or no information available regarding the nutritional qualities of these browse species, especially at the interface between fodders and goats. In turn, this has created a serious challenge for emerging goat farming industries in the middle hill areas of Nepal (Upreti and Shrestha, 2006; Ghimire, 2013; Pariyar et al., 2013). In this context, evaluation of different shrubs and browse species based on ruminant performance can help to reduce the severity of undernourishment and to keep ruminants productive (Khanal and Upreti, 2008). It has been urging the determination of the fodder quality of these browse species and understanding the need for supplementation of quality fodders or nutrients are the felt needs of those goat-raising systems. Therefore, this study was undertaken to assess the quality of these browse species through laboratory works and in-vivo experiments on goats.

Materials and Methods

The experiment was conducted at the National Goat Research Program, Bandipur Tanahun, located in the middle hill ecology of Nepal. The geographical coordinates of the experimental site were 27°57’00” N and 84°23’39” E at an elevation of 854 m asl.

Voluntary feed intake and body weight monitoring

A total of 30 Khari (native hill goats) male goats of five- to six-month age and of average initial body weight of 10.26 kg were used in the experiment. The experiment was executed in the Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments and five replications for 120 observation days during the lean season of fodders from October to February. The fodders of five browse species from the grazing lands of Western middle hills were compared with the mixed fodder (used as a control treatment) in the study. The browse species evaluated in the experiment were; Dhayero (Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz), Musure katus (Castanopsis tribuloides (Sm.) Lindl.)), Bamboo (Bamboosa arundinacea (Retz.) Willd.), Titepati (Artemisia vulgaris Willd.) and Sal ((Shorea robusta Roth.). The control group consisted of a mixture of the several fodders being commonly fed to ruminants in tethering or confinement systems. The mixture consisted of; Pennisetum purpureum Scumach., Brachiaria decumbens Stapf., Pogantherum sp., Desmodium intortum (Mill.) Urb., Hypoxis aurea Lour., Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Stylosanthes spp., Themeda triandra Forsk., Setaria pallidesesca, Pittosporum nepaulense, Echinochloea frumentacea. In the experiment, a male goat was used as an experimental unit and was kept individually in the experimental pen. The light was provisioned in the experimental pens during nighttime. The experimental animals were provided ad-libitum drinking water and concentrate feed (with 16.66% crude protein and 12.71 % total ash content) @ 1% of their body weight for 24 hours duration. They were offered the leaves together with twigs and petioles of the browse species in ad-libitum two times daily at 09:00 and 17:00 hours. The bunch of the allocated fodders were offered by hanging over the head of the experimental animal. Each experimental animal was offered 15% more fodders than the previous day’s intake. The experimental goats were kept in an adaptation period of 14-day in their allocated diets at the beginning of the experiment. The experimental goats were drenched with Albendazole @ 10 mg kg-1 body weight before 15 days of the experiment.

Daily feed offered and refused were recorded. The body weights of the goats were monitored at 15-day intervals during the experimental period.

Nutrient digestibility determination

Following the experiment on voluntary feed intake and body weight gain monitoring, the successive experiment on in-vivo nutrient digestibility for the fodder of those browse species was continued. In this experiment, the same animal assigned to the specific fodder in the previous experiment was repeated for the particular treatment. The experiment was conducted in a similar design as in the previous one, RCBD with six fodder treatments and five replications. In the digestibility experiment, an adaptation period of seven days was maintained offering them ad-libitum water and allocated fodder without concentrate feed. During the course of the digestibility experiment, only the allocated fodder was given to a goat without concentrate feed. The experimental goats were offered the assigned fodders two times a day, at 09:00 hours and 17:00 hours. Fodder refusals and voided feces were collected twice daily in the evening and in the next morning before the new ration offer. The weight of fodder offered, refused and fecal samples were recorded daily.

The apparent digestibility (AD) coefficients were calculated by using the data on nutrients offered in fodders, nutrients refused in fodders, and nutrients voided in the feces.

Laboratory analysis

Dry matter of the fodder and fecal samples were calculated in the laboratory of the National Goat Research Program, Bandipur by using constant heat in the hot air oven at 72°C for 24 hours. The proximate parameters were analyzed in the laboratory of the National Animal Nutrition Research Center, Khumaltar, Lalitpur according to the Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 1990, 2019). Nitrogen content was determined by following the Micro Kjheldal method and crude protein content was calculated on the basis of nitrogen. Total ash content was determined by ashing the samples at 550°C in a Muffle Furnace for 16 hours. The fiber fractions of the samples were analyzed by using Fodder Fiber Analysis Methods (Goering and Van Soest, 1970; Van Soest et al., 1991).

Statistical analysis

The data on nutrient composition, voluntary fodder intake, body weight parameters of goats, and digestibility of nutrients were analyzed by using one-way ANOVA. The statistical software R-Package (R Core Team, 2020) was used for the analysis of data.

Results and Discussion

Nutrient contents of the fodders of browse species

The total ash (TA), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), hemicellulose (HC) and cellulose (C) contents were significantly different (p<0.05) for the fodders of investigated browse species (Table 1). The W. fruticosa was obtained superior among the experimented browse species in terms of fodder nutrient contents, except for total ash. Similarly, the fodders of B. arundinacea, A. vulgaris and Mixed fodder treatment were better (p<0.01) for TA contents, whereas W. fruticosa, C. tribuloides and S. robusta had shown reasonably lower (p<0.01) contents of the total ash. Likewise, C. tribuloides and A. vulgaris were superior (p<0.01) in terms of CP content. The mixed results were obtained for the fiber fractions of the different fodders, then again all the investigated browse species had shown lower fodder quality in terms of NDF, ADF, HC and Cellulose. Comparatively lower proportions (p<0.01) of ADL were found in the fodder of W. fruticosa, control treatment, and A. vulgaris than in other browse species. The greater variability in the data of nutrient content of control treatment indicated by higher standard deviation values might be associated with the mixing of several fodders.

As described by Upreti and Shrestha (2006), based on the proportions of CP, NDF and ADF contents, all the pasture browse species investigated in the study were considered of lower quality. Tree fodders and shrubs containing ≥18% CP are considered good in quality, 10.01 to 17.99% are moderate in quality, and ≤10% are low in quality. Similarly, the fodders with ≤40% NDF, 40.01 to 60% NDF and ≥60% NDF are considered as good, medium, and low-quality, respectively. Likewise, the fodders with a ≤ 31% ADF are considered to be of good quality, those with a 41.01 to 45% are moderate in quality, and those with a ≥45% ADF are considered to be of low quality (Upreti and Shrestha, 2006). Further, lignin, which is considered a common anti-nutritional factor in fodders, was found to be higher in all investigated browse species with more than 15% on the DM basis.

Fodder intake

Significantly different (p<0.01) voluntary fodder intake (VFI) and fodder dry matter intake (fodder DMI) per kg metabolic weight were obtained for the fodders of different browse species (Table 2). The W. fruticosa had the best (p<0.01) VFI and fodder DMI per kg metabolic weight among the pasture browse species, however, none of the browse species had an equal or better intake of fodder than the control treatment. Murney et al. (2019) had obtained similar results of obtaining better fodder intake to goats in case of botanically more diverse fodder species. Some fodders used in mixed-fodder treatment could have rapidly degradable species in the rumen as in the experiment of Burke et al. (2000). In case of mixed-fodder treatment, there might be rapid emptying of rumen facilitated by mixed fodder species that could be responsible for higher DMI. Soft and smaller-leaved fodders increase the mastication per bite, result smaller herbage particle size swallowed and reduce ruminative chewing and results (Gregorini et al., 2013). Castanopsis tribuloides and B. arundinacea were similar (p>0.05) in VFI and fodder DMI, which were higher (p<001) than A. vulgaris. The fodder of A. vulgaris had shown remarkably low (p<0.01) VFI and fodder DMI per kg metabolic weight in the experiment. According to Pandey et al. (2017), the leaves of A. vulgaris contain higher proportions of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponin, quinone, sterols, tannin, terpenoids, and reducing sugars; and these phytochemicals are listed to have a variety of biological effects in animals. Thus, these compounds could have suppressed the goats VFI and fodder DMI in this study.

 

Table 1: Nutrient content of the fodders of popular browse species in the Nepali middle hills.

Fodders	TA	CP	NDF	ADF	ADL	HC	C
Woodfordia fruticosa	6.94± 2.32b	10.625±2.67b	66.39±10.32a	46.99±6.66bc	15.00± 3.23c	19.40±5.12a	31.99±6.67a
Castanopsis tribuloides	4.25± 2.74c	13.96±2.25a	59.58±17.63b	44.11±3.21c	27.49± 4.36a	15.47±4.84b	26.10±7.23b
Bamboosa arundinacea	10.41± 2.33a	9.32±3.33c	58.44±8.99b	47.81±11.23bc	29.68± 5.91a	10.63±3.13c	18.13±5.68c
Artemisia vulgaris	10.96± 2.0a	13.36±1.25a	67.40±8.25a	52.94±7.76ab	18.01± 2.89bc	14.46±2.14b	26.55±6.15b
Shorea robusta	6.395± 1.6b	10.07±3.59bc	59.45±12.6b	54.64±8.32a	21.24± 4.22b	4.81±1.33d	33.40±9.10a
Mixed fodder	11.81± 3.6a	10.8±4.11b	59.99±17.3b	47.90±10.88bc	17.12± 5.30c	12.09±3.67bc	30.78±6.69ab
Significance	<0.01	<0.05	<0.05	<0.05	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01

TA= Total ash, CP= Crude Protein, NDF= Neutral detergent fiber, ADF= Acid detergent fiber, ADL acid detergent lignin, HC= Hemicellulose, C= Cellulose

 

Table 2: Voluntary fodder intake and total dry matter intake of the goats for fodders of different browse species of Nepali middle hills.

Fodders	Voluntary fodder intake, g day-1 animal-1	Total DMI
		Feed DMI, g day-1 kg-1 metabolic weight	Fodder DMI, g day-1 kg-1 metabolic weight
Woodfordia fruticosa	543.39±37.88b	14.28±1.58	74.40±10.12b
Castanopsis tribuloides	447.25±22.77c	14.25±0.69	62.29±7.36c
Bamboosa arundinacea	421.46±46.65cd	14.28±0.52	59.03±10.75cd
Artemisia vulgaris	282.27±46.25e	14.29±1.13	37.93±9.21e
Shorea robusta	381.99±23.73cd	14.30±0.12	49.84±5.71d
Mixed fodder	612.67±38.42a	15.68±0.08	84.81±8.66a
Significance	<0.01	NS	<0.01

DMI= Dry matter intake, NS= Non-significant.

 

Table 3: Apparent digestibility of fodder nutrients of different pasture browse species.

Fodders	DM	CP	TA	NDF	ADF
Woodfordia fruticosa	54.96±4.77ab	57.73±5.97b	47.33±3.67bc	52.48±6.0b	39.29±4.18b
Castanopsis tribuloides	41.33±3.28cd	44.46±5.01c	48.69±3.33b	38.29±4.11c	26.54±3.61c
Bamboosa arundinacea	44.36±4.99c	41.78±4.66c	67.67±4.12a	39.22±5.34bc	33.19±3.39bc
Artemisia vulgaris	32.22±3.73d	38.40±2.33c	35.46±2.35c	31.56±3.72c	29.61±2.48bc
Shorea robusta	39.65±4.12cd	43.12±4.31c	41.59±3.97bc	43.87±3.68bc	31.88±3.47bc
Mixed fodder	65.23±5.13a	72.91±4.46a	63.28±4.19a	66.67±5.19a	52.34±5.11a
Significance	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01

 

Along with the poorer quality of the fodders of investigated browse species in terms of CP, NDF, ADF and lignin contents (Table 1), their VFI and DMI per kg metabolic weight were also obtained lower (Table 2). This result showed that the higher fiber fractions in these browse species, which are considered to reduce fodder quality (Upreti and Shrestha, 2006), might be contributing to the decline in VFIs and fodder DMIs per kg metabolic weight. The roughage intake of a ruminant is regulated by rumen capacity. The faster rumen emptying leads to a greater intake of fodders (Owensby et al., 1996). When the diet contains a high proportion of cell wall components (complex structural polysaccharides), the ingesta is retained longer in the rumen to ensure protein extraction. The rate at which fiber and lignin pass through the gastrointestinal tract increases on diets low in fiber and lignin.

Apparent digestibility of nutrients

The apparent digestibilities of nutrients were obtained significantly higher (p<0.01) for the control treatment: Mixed fodder (Table 3). The DM digestibility was obtained low for all the browse species involved in the experiment. Medium to lower digestibilities of the nutrients were found for the fodders of all the investigated browse species. Among the investigated browse species, the W. fruticosa fodder which contains modest CP and better fodder DMI per kg metabolic weight, yet again had better DM and CP digestibilities. However, it had lower TA content with poorer digestibility. The NDF and ADF digestibilities for W. fruticosa were obtained best among the investigated pasture browse species, nevertheless, their digestibility coefficients were also substandard so far. The fodder of W. fruticosa contains higher proportions (14.6%) of tannin (Upreti and Shrestha, 2006), which might have affected negatively in the digestibilities of CP, minerals, and fibers in this experiment. A study on W. fruticosa leaves reported the presence of higher extents of alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, and phenolic compounds (Vanmala et al., 2014), which could be the reason for the lower nutrient digestibilities of W. fruticosa fodder in comparison to Mixed fodder in this experiment.

Similarly, B. arundinacea fodder with higher TA content (Table 1) had relatively superior (p<0.01) TA digestibility (Table 3), but its CP content and digestibility were poorer. Even though the NDF and ADF contents in the fodder of B. arundinacea were modest (Table 1), their digestibilities were obtained lower in the experiment. This might be due to the higher ADL content (Table 1). Moreover, Akinmoladun (2022) reported that B. arundinacea leaves are rich in saponins (3.98%), phytate (42.03 mg per 100 g) and flavonoid (2.85%). The higher levels of these phytochemicals could have decreased the bioavailability of CP and negatively affected the nutrient digestions in the gastrointestinal tract of the goats, as described by Akinmoladun (2022).

Likely, smaller digestibility coefficients of TA, CP and fiber fractions for the fodders of C. tribuloides and S. robusta were obtained in the nutrient digestibility experiment. Higher levels of tannin (>6.0% and >10% in C. tribuloides and S. robusta fodders, respectively) are found in these fodders (Upreti and Shrestha, 2006). A higher level of tannin inhibits the protein and dry matter digestibilities (Wood et al., 1995; Upreti and Shrestha, 2006), which might be the reason for the lower digestibility coefficients of nutrients for C. tribuloides and S. robusta fodders. The fodder of A. vulgaris also showed smaller digestibility coefficients of DM, CP, TA, NDF, and ADF in the experiment. The foliage of A. vulgaris contains higher levels of anti-nutrient factors (Pandey et al., 2017), which could have reduced the digestibilities of the nutrients in this fodder.

The lower CP contents in the fodders of investigated browse species (Table 1) could have declined the overall digestibility of fodders, and thus reduced the rate of passage of ingesta through the rumen due to lower microbial activity. When CP content is low in the ration, the bacteria responsible for the digestion of feeds and fodders cannot sustain at an adequate level, which reduces the animals’ intake and digestibility. Microbes require large amounts of protein to maintain fermentation (Owensby et al., 1996). Likewise, the fodders of all the investigated browse species contained high levels of ADF, which were even more in the fodders of S. robusta and A. vulgaris. The ADF, which includes cellulose and lignin, is the least digestible plant component of the fodders. The ADF is inversely proportional to the digestibility of the fodders and lowers the energy content of the fodders (Upreti and Shrestha, 2006). This could also be another reason responsible for the lower quality of experimented fodders.

The rate of passage in the ruminant’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract is determined by the digestibility of fodders. The fodders low in the cell wall, fiber and lignin contents have a faster rate of passage and increased intake to animals. Ruminants cannot compensate for poor-quality diets by consuming more fodders because of their digestive system (Owensby et al., 1996). The results of this experiment had also supported this report.

Body weight gain

A significantly superior (p<0.01) body weight gain was obtained from the Mixed fodder treatment than all the investigated pasture browse species in the experiment (Table 4). The W. fruticosa fodder had attained the highest body weight gain of goats among the pasture browse species tested in the experiment. Superior nutrient contents, comparatively higher fodder DMI per kg metabolic weight and better digestibilities of nutrients (especially CP and NDF fractions) might be the reasons associated with the higher body weight gain for W. woordifordia fodders compared to other browse species. It is nevertheless not considered good quality fodder. Compared to Mixed fodder, W. woordifordia was significantly inferior (p<0.01) in nutrient compositions, fodder DMI, digestibilities of nutrients, and body weight gain of goats.

In the experiment, B. arundinacea was also obtained as a substandard fodder in terms of fodder nutrient composition, digestibility of nutrients, and body weight gain. In spite of its better TA content with superior digestibility, the lower CP content with lesser digestibility and lower fodder DMI could have resulted the smaller body weight gain. The higher ADL content in this fodder was supposed to be another factor responsible for the lower body weight gain of the goats. The ADL is inversely proportional to the fodder intake (Harper and McNeill, 2015), and that may be the reason associated with lower fodder DMI per kg metabolic weight, which ultimately could have resulted to lower body weight gain of goats in the experiment.

Likewise, S. robusta and C. tribuloides were also obtained as the fodders of substandard quality on the basis of nutrient composition (Table 1). The dropped DMI and accordingly declined productivity are the major consequences of the inferior fodder quality (Owensby et al., 1996). The lower digestibilities of CP and fiber fractions of these fodders could be responsible for attaining the poor body weight gain (Table 4). As ADL forms complexes with hemicellulose, which is otherwise digestible, higher ADL content reduces nutritional digestibility (Khanal and Upreti, 2008). High lignin and high ADF content in the fodders (Table 1) could have declined the nutrient digestibility of S. robusta and C. tribuloides in this experiment.

 

Table 4: The body weight gains of the male goats fed with fodders of different pasture browse species during a 120-day experimental period.

Fodders browse	Initial body weight, kg	Final body weight, kg	Body weight gain in 120 days, kg
Woodfordia fruticosa	10.37±1.09	15.60±2.09b	5.35±0.51b
Castanopsis tribuloides	10.25±0.53	11.62±1.19cd	1.36±0.73cd
Bamboosa arundinacea	10.20±0.74	11.13±2.70cd	0.93±0.19d
Artemisia vulgaris	10.63±1.14	9.65±1.28d	-0.97±0.13e
Shorea robusta	10.95±1.04	13.29±2.26bc	2.34±0.46c
Mixed fodder	10.32±1.26	19.86±2.39a	9.47+1.51a
Significance	NS	P<0.01	P<0.01

 

The A. vulgaris is seemed to be the most inferior fodder in terms of nutrient contents, fodder DMI per kg metabolic weight, nutrient digestibility especially CP and fiber fractions, and also the weight gain in a 120-day experimental duration. The experimental animals fed with the fodder of A. vulgaris had obtained negative body weight gain (Table 4). Notwithstanding the better TA and CP contents in A. vulgaris fodder, extremely low fodder intake (Table 2), quite higher ADF content (Table 1), lesser digestibilities of nutrients (Table 3) and the higher level of anti-nutrient factors (Pandey et al., 2017) could have contributed to the negative weight gain in goats during the 120-day experimental duration. Although A. vulgaris fodder had higher CP content, the presence of elevated levels of anti-nutritional factors could have interfered with the digestion of CP (Table 3). The tannin (condensed tannin, CT), one of the anti-nutritional factors presented in A. vulgaris fodder, contributes to the reduction of fodder intake, fodder quality and overall digestibility of fodder (Pandey et al., 2017). The CT is highly negatively correlated with NDF, ADF and ADL digestibility of the fodders (Mekonnen et al., 2009).

In the study, the fodder nutrient compositions of all the investigated pasture browse species were found at substandard levels. Most of them were lower in the CP and TA contents. When the nitrogen or CP concentration of the fodder is decreased and the concentration of fiber components is increased, the amount of fodders intake decreases (Owensby et al., 1996). Moreover, there were lower nutrient digestibilities of investigated pasture browse species than the average standard, which were not able to satisfy the reasonable body weight gain of goats. The digestibilities of NDF and ADF were obtained further lower which could have decreased the overall digestibilities of the fodder nutrients. The digestibility of NDF is determined to predict the total digestibility of fodders in recent times (Hoffman et al., 2022). From the perspectives of the nutrient compositions, fodder DMI per kg metabolic weight, body weight gain and digestibility of nutrients, the results of the experiments revealed that the fodders of all the investigated pasture browse species were inferior to the Mixed fodder treatment.

The findings of the study indicated that the native hill goats in the Nepali middle hills reared solely on grazing on browse species, without supplementations of concentrate feed or quality fodders, are severely undernourished. 

Conclusions and Recommendations

The pasture browse species; Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz, Castanopsis tribuloides (Sm.) Lindl., Bamboosa arundinacea (Retz.) Willd., Artemisia vulgaris Willd. and Shorea robusta Roth. in the Nepali middle hills are substandard in quality in terms of nutrient compositions and nutrient digestibilities. These browse species are moderate in CP content, although, the digestibilities of their crude protein are poorer. The fiber qualities of these browse species are also inferior in terms of NDF and ADF contents and digestibility of fresh leaves. These browse species result lower fodder dry matter intake and accordingly poorer body weight gains of Nepali hill goats. The experiment concludes that these pastures browse species of Nepali middle hills are substandard to meet the nutrient requirement of Nepali hill goats for commercial goat production unless they are supplemented.

Therefore, if goats are fed or grazed on these pasture browse species that are prevalent in the Nepali hills, it is necessary to supplement them with high-quality fodders.

Acknowledgements

The author is highly grateful to the National Goat Research Program (NGRP), Bandipur, Tanahun for providing the venue and cages for the experimentation. Special thanks of gratitude are extended to the Senior Scientists of NGRP Mr. Raju Kadel and Mr. Devi Prasad Adhikari, Technical Officer of NGRP Mr. Shiva Hari Ghimire, and Technician of NGRP Mr. Tek Bahadur Ale for their untiring support to logistic management and experimentation during the study. Many thanks to the Nepal Agricultural Research Council for providing financial support for this experiment.

Novelty Statement

The browse species of the middle hill of Nepal were not found sufficiently nutritive for the goats. It necessitates the nutrient supplements to goats that are reared in forest browsing systems and also opens the area for future research in these areas.

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared no conflict of interest.

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