VETERINARY COLLEGE AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE, TIRUNELVELI

DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL NUTRITION

The Department of Animal Nutrition was started on 19/09/2012, the date of inception of Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli. The mandate of the department is to offer undergraduate and post graduate courses in Veterinary Science, to undertake field oriented research and to provide active technical support for the implementation of Government schemes on fodder production, improving feeding practices of livestock and poultry in Southern region of Tamilnadu.

Objectives

Education:

To offer undergraduate and post graduate courses in Animal Nutrition.

Research:

To undertake research in the thrust areas of Small Ruminant Nutrition, Poultry Nutrition, Nanotechnology in Animal Nutrition & Pet and Wild animal Nutrition.

Extension:

To organise feed and fodder development programmes to augment livestock and poultry nutrition for the benefit of farming community.

Education

The Department is currently offering the Undergraduate course in B.V.Sc. & A.H Second Professional Year, Animal Nutrition Paper I& II (3+1) with Unit I – Principles of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, Unit II - Applied Ruminant Nutrition- I, Unit III- Applied Ruminant Nutrition- II and Unit IV- Applied Non Ruminant Nutrition (Equine, Swine, Poultry, Lab animals, Pet animals, Wild animals)
Since 2019, the department also offers Post Graduate course in M.V.Sc. (Animal Nutrition).
The Department is organizing annual NUTRI MEET for the final year B.V.Sc. & A.H. students to get acquaintance with various nutraceuticals, feed additives, pet foods etc. marketed by feed industry.

Research

Thrust areas of research: Long-term goals

Feed and fodder development of Southern region of Tamilnadu.
Assessment of nutrient requirements of various species of livestock and poultry .
Feed additives in livestock and poultry nutrition .

Thrust areas of research: Short-term goals

Evaluation of new and unconventional feeds of Southern region.
Studying nutrient requirements of desi chicken, native sheep and goat breeds .
Adoption of Nano technology in mineral nutrition.

Ongoing Research Projects

S.No.	Title	Funding agency	Total outlay (Rs. in Lakhs)	Period
1	Concentrate Feed Production Unit at Department of Animal Nutrition, VCRI, Tirunelveli	TANUVAS Revolving fund scheme	25.00	Since 2017-18
2	Mineral Mixture Production Centre at Department of Animal Nutrition, VCRI, Tirunelveli	TANUVAS Self Financing Scheme	38.00	Since June 2020
3	Feed testing laboratory at Department of Animal Nutrition, VCRI, Tirunelveli	TANUVAS Revolving fund scheme	1.00	Since 2016-17
4	Fodder seed production unit at Department of Animal Nutrition, VCRI, Tirunelveli	TANUVAS Revolving fund scheme	2.20	Since 2016-17
5	Nutritional supplemental strategy developed at TANUVAS to increase productivity in dairy cattle and mitigate methane emission	TNIAMP, Govt. of Tamilnadu	200.00	Since 2018-19
6	Revitalizing dairy cattle through TANUVAS GRAND Supplementation to enhance the productivity and Profitability	GOI-NADP/ RKVY RAFTAAR 2020-21	0.50	Since 2020-21
7	Agrisilvipasture system integrated with livestock farming-a critical analysis of Pros and cons in terms of C and N Sequestration : N2O emission and cattle enteric methane emission and mitigation practices	International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna	35000 Euros (30.85 lakhs)	Since 2020-21

Research projects completed

S.No.	Title	Funding agency	Total outlay (Rs.in Lakhs)
1.	Popularising model fodder seed bank at farmers’ field to augment fodder production	NADP, Govt. of Tamil Nadu	19.45
2.	ICAR Sub Project on Veterinary Type Culture – VRC, Viral vaccines, Madhavaram	ICAR - Tribal Sub Plan	5.00
3.	Monitoring and intervention Strategies for Blue tongue virus epidemics in rural India under All India Network Project on Blue tongue	BBSRRC, UK ICAR (Indo UK Collaborative Project) – VRC-VV, DCAHS, TANUVAS	24.60
4.	Soil and Mineral Mapping in Farmers field in sensitizing them to improve biomass and to augment livestock productivity	TN State Planning Commission : Land Use Research Board	8.00
5.	Fodder& seed production through TANUVAS SRRC	State Fodder Development Scheme, Govt. of TamilNadu.	61.60
6.	Effect of tanniferous feeds on leguminous silage for environmental friendly and sustainable animal production	TANUVAS Corpus Fund	2.75
7.	NLM Scheme – Establishment of Feed testing Lab at VCRI, Tirunelveli	GOI TN State Govt.	28.00
8.	Comparative efficacy evaluation of Herbal liver tonic (Superliv Conc. Premix) on growth performance, nutrient utilization and carcass traits in broilers	Ayurvet Pvt Ltd., UP	2.06
9.	Efficacy evaluation of early nutrition (CHIKIMUNE) in improving growth performance, immunity and gut development in broiler chicks	Ayurvet INDIA (P) Ltd, H.P	1.37
10.	Augmenting milk production in dairy cattle by TANUVAS GRAND supplementation in Tirunelveli District	National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)	3.76
11.	Validation studies on the efficacy of KemTRACE Broiler and Different Organic Trace Minerals on the performance of Commercial Broilers	Kemin South Asia Industries Private Limited, Chennai	4.00
12.	TANUVAS SMART Mineral Mixture Production Centre at Department of ANN, VCRI, Tirunelveli	TANUVAS Revolving Fund scheme	3.00
13.	Efficacy Evaluation Of Supplementation Of Antibiotic Growth Promoter Replacer On Improving Nutrient Utilization, Production And Health Performance In Broilers	M/S Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd.	4.05
14.	Establishment of Livestock and Poultry Feed Technology Centre at VCRI, Tirunelveli	NADP, Govt. of Tamilnadu	150.00
15.	Validation studies on the efficacy of JubiDOL on the metabolic energy sparing effect with different commercial oils and fats added to the broiler feed and production performances of commercial broilers	M/S. Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd.	3.62
16.	Effect of Nano Zinc supplementation on production performance,immune response and carcass characteristics in Japanese Quail Broiler	TANUVAS Sub Project	0.10
17.	Nutritional Evaluation of feed resources of Southern Tamilnadu	TANUVAS Sub Project	0.10

Extension

Farm advisory services on fodder cultivation, feed formulation and feeding management.
Conduct of on- campus and off- campus training programmes on fodder production technology, feeding of livestock and poultry.
Conduct of specialised training programmes for the beneficiaries of various government schemes.
Transfer of technologies from lab to field.
Supply of fodder seeds, mineral mixture, concentrate feed to farmers.
Publication of popular articles, books, booklets, training manuals, pamphlets for the benefit of farmers.

Infrastrcture

The department building consists of UG lab, PG Research lab, Metabolism lab, Staff rooms, Office room and Stores with a total floor space 5200 sq. ft. Additional facilities include Mineral mixture production centre (1500 sq. ft.), Feed mill with storage godown (3000 sq. ft.), Animal Feed block making centre (400 sq. ft.), Drying yard (600 sq. ft.), Silage pit (1000 cu. ft.) and Poultry shed with cages (1600 sq. ft.).
The Under Graduate and Post Graduate research laboratories of the department are well-equipped with both basic and advanced equipments for carrying out various analytical procedures. These include Precision weighing balances, Automatic Protein estimation system, Automatic Fat estimation system, Automatic Fibre estimation system, Spectrophotometer, Bomb Calorimeter, In vitro rumen fermenter, Thin layer Chromatography, Near Infra red Reflectance Spectroscopy, Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Metabolism trial cages for small ruminants and poultry etc. Feed technology equipments include Hammer mill, Horizontal Mixer, Pelletiser, Chaff cutter, Roughage grinder, Roughage mixer and Automatic feed block making machine, weighing balances and packaging machines.

Salient Achievements

Establishment of UG & PG laboratory with all the necessary equipments to conduct Animal Nutrition practical classes.
Feed Testing Laboratory with advanced equipments was established for the benefit of livestock and poultry farmers.
Mineral mixture production centre was established in the department to produce and supply TANUVAS SMART mineral mixture to farmers and Govt. scheme beneficiaries and Sheep and Goat mineral mixture to the farmers in the southern districts.
Livestock and Poultry Feed Technology Centre was established to produce and supply processed concentrate feed, pellet feed and complete feed blocks.
Establishment of fodder seed production unit for sustained production and supply of fodder seeds and fodder slips to farmers to improve fodder cultivation in southern region.
Model fodder seed banks were created in the farmers' field under both irrigated and dry land farming in Madurai, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli districts under NADP scheme to augment fodder seed production .
Extensive research was carried out on inclusion of nano selenium, nano zinc in Japanese quail ration, improving digestibility of legume silage protein by the addition of tanniferrous feeds in goats, effect of anti stress liver tonic, early chick nutrition, antibiotic growth promoter replacers, organic trace minerals in broilers .
Technical advisory services to the farmers of southern region on fodder cultivation, feed formulation and scientific feeding of livestock and poultry .
Propagation of TANUVAS nutrition technologies - TANUVAS Mineral Mixture, TANUVAS SMART Mineral mixture, GRAND supplement adopting extension education methodologies.
Implementation of IFS scheme, Department of Agriculture, Tirunelveli for the benefit of more than 500 farmers through distribution of dairy, sheep & goat concentrate feed, fodder seeds and slips, mineral mixture worth Rs.15,000/- each.

Faculty

Dr. N.Arulnathan, Assistant Professor and Head
Dr. D.Thirumeignanam, Assistant Professor

The Assistant Professor and Head,
Department of Animal Nutrition,
Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli - 627 358.
Phone: +91-462-2335075
E-mail: annvcritni@tanuvas.org.in