Urea molasses mineral blocks as a feed supplement
Dr. Amir Amin Sheikh
Ph. D Scholar, Division of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, F.V.Sc. & A.H., Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu (SKUAST-Jammu)-181102
Abstract
The principal forages used in India for livestock feeding are low in nitrogen, minerals and vitamins resulting in low productivity. To overcome this strategic nutrient supplementation is essential in this scenario to improve the use of poor quality roughage. The Urea Molasses Mineral Block (UMMB) was developed at NDDB and supplementation of UMMB can show promising effects on productivity of animals. UMMB supplementation significantly increases feed intake, milk yield and growth rate and is therefore a cost-effective. UMMB provides fermentable nitrogen, energy and minerals necessary for optimum microbial growth. Molasses is noted for its sugar content and urea is a non-protein nitrogen compound. Most urea contains about 46% nitrogen and protein contains 16% nitrogen: crude protein equivalent value of urea is about 281%. Feed UMMB to ruminants only and do not feed to monogastric and pregastric animals.The amount of blocks fed to sheep and goats should be limited to 100 grams/day while for cattle it should be limited to 500-700 grams/day.
Introduction
Most people in India live in rural areas and their livelihoods are based on the production of crops and livestock. The production of livestock is an integral part of farming systems. The principal forages used in India for feeding livestock are crop residues and dry grasses. These crop residues are low in nitrogen, minerals and vitamins but high in fibre and lignin, limiting animal intake and digestibility: hence low productivity. The main limiting factors for animal productivity in the nation are poor nutrition and poor feed availability. As a result, animal performance is often sub-optimal, which is reflected in sluggish growth, delayed maturation, longer inter-calving periods and poor milk yield. Strategic nutrient supplementation is essential in this scenario to improve the use of poor quality roughage. Considering the availability and price of concentrate mixture, poor farmers can hardly afford them. To overcome this limitation, animal nutritionists across the world have shown that the nutritional value of crop residues can be enhanced if it is complemented by deficient nutrients (Makkar, 2002).
The Urea Molasses Mineral Block (UMMB) was developed at NDDB (1983) and has been further enhanced at IVRI (Garg et al., 1998). Supplementation of Urea Molasses Mineral Block (UMMB) can show promising effects on improving the use of nutrients and also the productivity of animals (Prasad et al., 2001). Urea Molasses Mineral Block (UMMB) supplementation can increase fibrous feed digestibility by up to 20 percent, increase the nutrients the animal receives, and increase feed intake by 25 to 30 percent (ESGPIP, 2007). UMMB can be fed throughout the year, but during the dry season or when the animals graze low-quality fodder, they are more beneficial. Liquid supplements based on molasses with added nitrogen, minerals and vitamins have recently been shown to improve growth rate and reproductive performance in cattle as another approach to increasing nutrient utilisation. The benefits for feeding UMMB are:
- Safe and uniform micronutrient delivery vehicle
- Safe delivery Vehicle for NPN
- Increase NPN utilisation
- Vehicle for delivery of molasses or fermentable rumen carbohydrates to rumen microbes
- Reduce dustiness of concentrate feed
- Reduce feed sorting
- Increase the feed intake as a whole and enhanced palatability.
Benefits:
Urea-molasses-mineral block (UMMB) is a strategic feed supplement for ruminants that promotes the growth of rumen microbes throughout the day with a constant source of fermentable nitrogen. UMMB supplementation significantly increases feed intake, milk yield and growth rate and is therefore a cost-effective approach to maximising the use of locally available feed resources for increased productivity. UMMB provides fermentable nitrogen, energy and minerals intermittently through licking, which is necessary for optimum microbial growth. Microbial protein can add 30-40 % of an animal’s crude protein requirement. UMMB supplementation in the ration is quite beneficial, especially when fed crop-residue-based diets, as ruminants can produce microbial protein from non-protein nitrogen.
Molasses is noted for its sugar content and sugars usually contribute 60-65% of the solids in sugarcane molasses. Increasing the rate of carbohydrate fermentation could result in more effective capture of rumen degradable protein and improved supply of metabolizable protein to the dairy animals. Urea is a non-protein nitrogen compound. That is, the nitrogen portion of urea is used as the building block for the production of protein by rumen microbes. Most urea contains about 46% nitrogen, and protein contains 16% nitrogen. Therefore, when urea is converted to protein, the crude protein equivalent value of urea is about 281%. Urea contains no other useful feed components such as energy, minerals, or vitamins. Ruminants convert urea to protein via ammonia and carbon dioxide production. The ammonia released from urea is either used for microbial protein production or is detoxified and excreted in the urine.
Composition
UMMB is made from various ingredients, each of which in the mixture has its own contribution. In general, it consists of Molasses, Urea, Mineral mixture, Salt, Calcite powder, Bentonite, Cottonseed meal, Deoiled mahua seed cake, Wheat bran and crushed maize. Composition of Urea Molasses Mineral Block is given below. The composition may vary according to availability of feed ingredients.
| Ingredients | Example I | Example II |
| Molasses | 45 % | 40 % |
| Urea | 15 % | 5 % |
| Mineral mixture | 15 % | 3 % |
| Salt | 8 % | 2 % |
| Calcite powder | 4 % | – |
| Bentonite | 3 % | – |
| Cotton seed meal | 10 % | – |
| Deoiled mahua seed cake | – | 10 % |
| Wheat bran | – | 20 % |
| Crushed maize | – | 20 % |
Precautions while supplementing UMMB
- Feed to ruminants only (sheep, goats and cattle).
- Do not feed to monogastric animals i.e. horses, donkeys, or pigs.
- Do not feed to young ruminants less than six months of age (kids, lambs).
- Blocks should be used as a supplement and not as the basic ration.
- A minimum of coarse forage in the rumen is essential.
- Never give blocks to an emaciated animal with an empty stomach. There is the risk of poisoning due to excessive consumption.
- The amount of blocks fed to sheep and goats should be limited to 100 grams/day while for cattle it should be limited to 500-700 grams/day.
- The blocks should never be supplied in ground form or dissolved in water as this can result in over consumption
- Supply sufficient amount of water ad lib.
References
Makkar, H. (2002). Frequently asked questions on urea molasses-multinutrient block technology (UMMB). Report on review meeting – International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Vienna, Ausria. pp. 1-16.
Prasad, C. S., Gowda, N.K. and Raman, J.V. (2001). Feeding strategies for enhance animal productivity. In: Proceeding Xth Animal Nutrition Conference, NDRI, Karnal, India. pp. 23- 45.
Garg, M. R., Mehta, A.K. and Singh, D.K. (1998). Advances in the production and use of urea molasses mineral blocks in India. World Animal Review, 90(1): 22-27.
ESGPIP (Ethiopia Sheep and Goat Productivity Improvement Program), 2007. Technical Bulletin No. 1. How to make urea molasses blocks (UMB) and feed to sheep and goats. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
