Areca sheath as an alternate dry fodder for livestock
By N.K.S. Gowda, National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bengaluru 560 030, India
In many tropical areas, areca nut (Areca catechu) production has been steadily increasing at the expense of paddy rice. It results in less straw available to cattle and a new crop residue: areca sheath. Areca sheath, when properly processed, can be fed to ruminants: it provides valuable fodder and could reduce feed cost in India.