With the return of paddy straw burning in Punjab during the harvest season of early varieties of rice, creating bedding for cattle with paddy straw is among the many alternatives for the safe disposal of stubble. This bedding is not only good for animal health and soil health, but also increases milk production and enhances its quality. Why is providing bedding important for cattle and what material is good for it? Experts claim that bedding is used for animals to support their bodies when resting or otherwise stationary. It reduces pressure on the skin, restricts heat loss, and limits contamination by waste produced by the animal. Dr Jaspal Singh Hundal, Principal Scientist Animal Nutrition at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary Animal University (GADVASU) in Ludhiana, said that when comfortable bedding is provided for cattle, they feel happy and produce increased quantity and quality of milk. Also, there are fewer bacteria in the milk and cattle health remains better. Their hooves remain in good condition and the incidence of lameness is reduced. According to a study, published in a book on ‘Rice Residue Management’ by Punjab Agriculture Management and Extension Training Institute (PAMETI), conducted by Dr Parminder Singh, Prof. Animal Science at GADVASU and Dr Parteek Singh Dhaliwal, “The purpose of bedding for housed dairy cattle is two-fold: comfort and mastitis control in animals. A bedding cushion helps relieve pressure points from bony prominences. Teat-end exposure to mastitis-causing bacteria is the root of all mastitis problems. To help reduce new intramammary infections, bedding must be able to absorb moisture and help decrease teat end bacterial contamination.” Experts claim that paddy straw bedding is natural and cheaper than other materials. Paddy straw, if dried and properly cut, is proven to be a better bedding material because of its high water retention capacity, due to the high cellulose and silica content in the material, they say. How is bedding prepared for the cattle? Experts claim that a 20-30 centimetre layer of paddy straw can be laid at the resting place of every cattle in the cattle shed, which is usually replaced with fresh bedding at least twice a week. And for single bedding roughly 50 kg paddy straw is needed. They also say that farmers generally place a six-seven inch layer to prepare the fresh bedding, and then add two more layers over the next two days to mitigate the dampness caused by urine and excreta of the cattle. How many adult cattle are in Punjab and what is the requirement of paddy straw to prepare to bed for them? According to the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary Animal University (GADVASU), there are 25 lakh adult cows and 40 lakh adult buffaloes in the state. One cow or buffalo requires around 30-35 sq. feet area, while all cattle need around 2000 lakh sq. feet area to be covered under the bedding. To cover this area in a single time, the state requires around 3.25 lakh tonnes of paddy straw, which if replaced twice a week, amounts to 6.50 lakh tonnes of paddy straw. How are farmers supposed to dispose of the old bedding? The old bedding needs to be dumped in a pit or in a corner of a field, which due to the urine and dung, decomposes and turns into organic farm manure or compost in 3-4 months. Is this compost useful? It is very useful for the fields, said Dr Hundal, adding that it provides several nutrients to the soil and also enhances the level of organic matter. The book published by PAMETI states that this compost contains organic matter and can be used as a fertiliser and soil amendment. Compost is a crucial ingredient in organic farming and composting dairy manure with rice straw is one of the options that could offer many environmental and economic benefits for Punjab, where both dairy manure and rice straw are readily available. In addition, composting dairy manure with rice straw is also the right approach from the standpoint of process engineering, because dairy manure has high density and moisture content (MC), but lower carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N), and rice straw has the opposite properties. Mixing the two materials can provide better moisture content and more balanced nutrients for the microorganisms to carry out the composting process. Why are cattle rearers not utilising this free-of-cost bedding material? From a one-acre paddy field, around 25 quintals of paddy straw are produced and farmers say that they do not have adequate finances to collect it. Secondly, the majority of farmers consider making bedding for cattle laborious work. They also state that in the absence of a proper dumping site, they release it in a vacant place in the village which is not acceptable to the residents. However, the government can deal with it at the village Panchayat level as they have separate lands where such manure can be dumped, said a senior officer in the Agriculture department, adding that usage of paddy straw for cattle bedding is beneficial because it curbs stubble burning and provides nutrients to the soil in the form of manure.
