Nutritional value of feed consumed by buffaloes under stable conditions and grazing from the rangelands of the main habitats of buffalo breeding in different climate zones of Ardabil province

Background and objectives: Regular preparation of good quality forage and proper diet leads to cost-effective production of milk and meat. In Iran, insufficient supply and insufficient access to forage, as well as unbalanced consumption diets are the main limitations that negatively affect the ability to produce buffalo and therefore lead to uneconomical breeding of this animal. To overcome these problems, there must be a comprehensive knowledge of the areas, breeding methods, issues, production problems and feeding of buffaloes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the nutritional value of buffalo feed under rangeland and intensive breeding conditions in order to estimate the shortage of rations and nutritional value of rangelands under buffalo grazing in three main buffalo habitats in Ardabil province with ecological conditions including semi-arid, semi-dry cold and semi-humid cold. Methology: This study was performed to evaluate the digestibility, metabolism energy, gas production and degradability parameters, production of microbial mass and volatile fatty acids in the diet and rangeland forage of buffaloes using gas production technique in a completely randomized design. Dominant rangeland habitats of buffalo breeding villages with the help of heavy livestock department of Ardabil Jihad Agricultural Organization were identified and three breeding areas Bilesvar (Demirov village), Meshginshahr (Qara Bulakhlar village) and Namin Arpatapeh village (Fandoghlu) were Selected. Start time and duration of buffalo grazing were determined in these pastures. Plant sampling was performed in three vegetative stages including: early, mid and late grazing seasons and mixed to determine chemical composition and digestibility tests. Also in this study, two types of diets under intensive breeding conditions were used to feed buffaloes in selected rural systems. The traditional diet fed to buffaloes by the buffaloes of the province was considered as a "control " diet in this study. "Standardized diet" which was adjusted based on the needs of buffaloes using conventional food items in each rural area. In both diets, sampling of food items (forage and concentrate) used under intensive breeding conditions to determine the chemical composition and digestion tests, before preparing the rations and from all parts of the stored forage and preparation concentrates or was purchased, took place. The samples were then incubated for 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours for digestion studies. Results: The results showed that gas production, parameters b and c (slow decomposition and gas production rate), metabolic energy (ME), net lactation energy (NEL), apparent organic matter digestibility (AOMD) and true organic matter digestibility (TOMD), apparent and true ferment ability organic matter (AFOM and TFOM), volatile fatty acids (SCFA) as well as production of rumen microbial mass (BM) and its production efficiency in standard diets was higher than traditional diets (p<0.05). Gas production and parameters b and c, ME, NEL, AOMD, TOMD, AFOM, TFOM, SCFA and rumen microbial mass and its production efficiency in rangeland forage in the early grazing period of each region averaged higher values ​​than the middle and late showed, these parameters had a decreasing trend from early to late grazing period. TOMD and TFOM values ​​in rangeland samples of early grazing period in Bilesvar (semi-arid region) were higher than all three grazing periods of Namin and Meshginshahr cold regions (P <0.05), but SCFA and BM values ​​in rangeland samples were higher ​​than the semi-arid region. Conclution: The results of this study showed that balanced (standard) diets have better nutritional value than traditional (control) diets and these diets can be used instead of traditional diets in buffalo feed. In relation to rangeland samples under buffalo grazing, the nutritional value of Belesvar rangeland is higher than Meshginshahr and Namin rangeland, which have close nutritional value, and show similarities and differences in quality of studied areas rangeland.