Medicinal Plants as Feed Additives in Goat Nutrition

Small ruminants, especially goats contribute meat, milk, fiber and other functions that are significant to the productivity, stability and sustenance of many farming systems. Goat keeping in tropical countries is undergoing a transformation from the traditional extensive browse-based feeding system to intensive stall feeding system mainly because of intensification of agriculture, shrinkage of grazing lands and reclamation of fallow lands for alternate use. Hence, cereal straws are increasingly being used as basal feeds for goats in the arable areas of the tropics. The World Health Organization (W.H.O) has been promoting a movement for "Saving plants for saving lives". Efficiency of utilization of poor quality roughages can be maximized by the supply of deficient nutrients like nitrogen, micro nutrients etc. in the ration of animals. In this context, the role of medicinal plants,especially fenu greek seeds, as feed additives, in the ration of animals is of vital significance in the countries, where small land holdings and large ruminant densities result in a severe problem of feed availability from more conventional sources like oil cakes and cereal by products.