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Banana Meal as a Concentrate for Lactating Cows^{1 ,2,}

Department of Dairy Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824

ABSTRACT

Of two experiments of banana meal as an engredient of concentrate for lactating cows, one was a field trial in the Machachi Valley near Quito, Ecuador, which compared concentrates containing 75% banana meal. The three concentrates were fed to three groups of 10 Holstein cows for 112 days. The cows grazed rye grass and white clover pasture 20 h per day. Daily milk production averaged 14.3, 17.6, and 15.9 kg per cow for the respective concentrates. The other experiment at Michigan State University compared a concentrate containing 40% banana meal with a herd concentrate containing mostly corn. Cows were fed banana meal concentrate and 10 cows the control. Differences between concentrates were not significant for milk production, percent milk fat and protein, glucose and urea of plasma, or for rumen pH and volatile fatty acids. Banana meal is an acceptable substitute for corn or wheat bran in concentrates for lactating cows.

¹ Published with the approval of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station as Journal Article No. 8090.

² The data of Experiment I are from a thesis submitted to the graduate school by the senior author as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the M.S. degree, partially supported by the NIH Grant GMO 1818. The field trial in Ecuador was in collaboration with the Ecuadorian National Institute of Agricultural and Livestock Research and Ing. Th. Spiro, Director of the Swiss Technical Mission and author of banana meal project.

³ Swiss Technical Mission, Apartado 116-A, Quito, Ecuador.