Thakur, T.C.Verma, Shishir Kumar2019-04-302019-04-302004-08http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810101298Cereal straw, forming a major part of crop residue is considered as an important feed resource in India and other developing countries. Efforts are underway for enhanced utilization of straw by improving its nutritional value. A limited number of mechanized systems like field balers and straw combines are now available in India for the collection of long straw and bruised straw from combine harvested fields. Ammonia (urea) treatment of wheat straw (bhusa) may be considered as an important option for quality improvement in nutritional value of wheat straw/ bhusa as livestock feed. Three sets of problems namely, performance evaluation of straw (bhusa) combine, ammonia (urea) treatment of wheat straw (bhusa) and nutritional analysis of treated bhusa were identified in this study. A mathematical model was developed to establish the relationships between liquid inflow rate, wetting time, liquid retained, liquid runoff and moisture content of wheat straw (bhusa) for treatment using urea as a source of ammonia. The straw and grain recoveries for wheat variety PBW 2145 by straw combine (delux model „SAGGU‟) before baling were 2001kgDM/ha & 79 kg/ha, 1956 kgDM/ha & 104 kg/ha and 1778 kgDM/ha & 82.3 kg/ha for forward speeds of 1.95, 2.42 and 3.52 km/h, respectively. Straw recovery after baling was found as 1280, 1350 and 1200 kgDM/ha at forward speeds of 2.04, 2.78 and 3.60 km/h, respectively. The split straw percentage by straw combine before baling was found as 91.20, 88.00 and 86.50% for forward speeds of 1.95, 2.42 and 3.52 km/h, respectively. The straw combine produced maximum amount of bruised straw (70-75%) with fine particle size varying between 4 and 8 mm under both the conditions of „before‟ and „after baling‟ which is acceptable as a good quality animal feed. The average field capacity, field efficiency and fuel consumption of straw combine after baling were found as 0.43 ha/h, 75.48 % and 3.90 l/h for the best speed of about 2.78 km/h. The on-farm cost of operation of straw (bhusa) combine was estimated as Rs 1780 per ha (Rs 904 /t) and Rs 1723 per ha (Rs 1286 /t) for „before‟ and „after baling‟ conditions, respectively whereas the off-farm cost which also includes transportation cost of straw bhusa to a distance of 2.5 km was found to be 1915 and 1833 Rs./ha for „before‟ and „after baling‟ conditions, respectively. The break-even point analysis of the straw combine showed that total cost per hectare of straw combine in both cases (before and after baling) gradually reduced with the increase in area of coverage. The cost analysis of straw recovery also indicated that when an area of about 45 ha/year before baling and 75 ha/year after baling is covered by the straw combine then the cost of bhusa recovery per hectare approximately equals to value of wheat straw (bhusa) collected and sold at rates varying as 1000, 1500 and 2000 Rs./t. The minimum area of coverage per year by the straw combine should be more than 75 ha after baling to make recovery of bhusa profitable. The payback period of the straw combine is dependent on the annual area covered as well as the value of wheat straw (bhusa). For an a70 years for respective straw costs for „after baling‟ condition. The depth of layers up to ten layers of 150 mm each had no significant variations in moisture content of ammonia (urea) treated wheat straw (bhusa) and therefore, a column of 1.5 m height comprising of 10 layers of 150 mm each and 1m diameter for a single sprayer nozzle of 1250 g/min discharge rate could be recommended for ammonia (urea) treatment using the developed „Spraying Method‟. The evaluation of urea treated wheat straw (bhusa) of three columns in terms of in-situ nylon bag dry matter digestibility (NBDMD), crude protein (CP) content and ammonical nitrogen (AN) content indicated significant increase in these values over untreated straw (control). On an average NBDMD increased from 43.47 % (untreated) to 59.14 % (treated). The CP content of treated straw was found as 11.89 %, which were 8.33 percentage units greater than untreated straw (3.56 %). Similarly, the AN content was found as 0.838 % which was 0.793 percentage units greater than untreated straw (0.045 %).ennullThesis