Replacement of Vetch hay in the concentrate diet of crossbred cows: Evaluating vetch hay as a replacement to concentrate mix in the diet of lactating crossbred cows

This thesis work could have an immense value to promote the livelihood of smallholder dairy farmers who desperately are trying to cope with the current sky rocketing prices of conventional dairy concentrate mixes in Ethiopia. Integrating a forage legume like vetch in to the existing cropping systems not only have biological and economic gains for smallholder dairy farmer but also environmental advantages from the context of maintaining soil fertility. This work could further be used to widen up the scope of forage legume supplementation and hence provides sufficient scientific information to those stakeholders including development and agricultural experts, non-governmental organizations and teaching institutions mainly engaged in research and development efforts of modern dairying in the country.