%0 Book Section
%A Reddy, Y R
%A Kumari, N N
%A Blummel, M
%A Ravinder Reddy, Ch
%B Developing a Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Value Chain
%C Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India
%D 2013
%E Reddy, B V S
%E Ashok Kumar, A
%E Ravinder Reddy, Ch
%E Rao, P P
%E Patil , J V
%F icrisat:7367
%I International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
%K Sweet sorghum, Feed resource, Livestock
%P 141-154
%T Sweet sorghum bagasse – An alternative feed resource for livestock
%U http://oar.icrisat.org/7367/
%X Livestock production in the developing countries has been one of the most  important economic and social activities of human culture. Among the  livestock, ruminants have served and will continue to serve a valuable role  in sustainable agricultural systems. They are particularly useful in converting  vast renewable resources from rangeland, pasture and crop residues into  food edible for humans. India has a huge ruminant population comprising  of 210.2 million of cattle, 111.3 million buffaloes, 74.0 million of sheep, 154  million of goats, producing 117.0 million tons of milk and 3.4 million tons of  meat (FAOSTAT 2010). Since 1970, there has been a consistent rise in the  production of milk (4.7%) and meat (3.4%). Growth in livestock output, with  the exception of milk, has primarily been driven by an increase in animal  numbers. Yield growth in meat has been negligible, more so in the case  of sheep and goats. Nutrition remains by far the most critical constraint to  increased animal productivity and more efficient performance across the  developing countries (ILRI 1995) with the perpetual gap between the demand  and supply of digestible crude protein (DCP) and total digestible nutrients  (TDN); about 35 and 37 per cent (Ramachandra et al. 2005).