Introduction and Objectives: Ticks act as the vector for transmission of many parasitic pathogens. Several tick-borne haemoparasite infections are widespread among canines in tropical countries. However, information is scarce regarding canine tick-borne infections in Sri Lanka. The present study was therefore carried out to identify the canine tick-borne haemoparasite species and thereby assess their prevalence in three Divisional Secretariat divisions in the Anuradhapura district. Materials and methods: Blood samples were collected from dogs in three Divisional Secretariat (DS) divisions namely, Rambewa, Tirappane, and Galenbindunuwewa in the Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka. From each blood sample, two thin smears were prepared and stained with Giemsa. Stained slides were subsequently examined with a light microscope to detect haemoparasites. Results: Out of 319 blood samples, 139 were positive for haemoparasites. Of the positives, 51.61% were from Rambewa, 40.47% were from Galenbindunuwewa and 38.88% were from Tirappane. Three haemoprotozoan species, Hepatozoon canis, Babesia gibsoni, Babesia canis and one bacterial species, Ehrlichia canis were morphologically identified in the present study. Conclusions: Comparatively, the prevalence of ehrlichiosis (20.06%) and babesiosis (16.29%) were high in three DS divisions compared to the prevalence of H. canis infection (1.56%). The prevalence of the haemoprotozoan infections was significantly different among thee DS divisions 112 SLJID • www. http://sljol.info/index.php/SLJID • Vol. 9, No. 2, October 2019 (P<0.01). Co-infections among dogs suggest that the same vector may be involved in transmitting different infections.

Low pasture biomass production and fodder scarcity are among the major challenges affecting productivity of dairy cattle farms in Sri Lanka. As a potential solution to this, two Napier hybrid cultivars, CO-5 and Sampoorna, were recently introduced, and a field experiment was conducted to evaluate their growth, dry matter production, and nutritional composition from May to September 2020 to identify the optimum stage of harvest during the Yala season of the year. Plant measurements and samples were collected at five harvest intervals (4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 weeks after planting, respectively), with the plant samples subjected to biomass and nutritional assessments. The number of tillers and leaf length significantly differed (p = 0.01) between the two cultivars at 4 weeks harvesting interval (HI), whilst the number of leaves differed at 12-week HI, respectively. Dry matter yield increased (p = 0.16) almost linearly, whilst crude protein declined exponentially with CO-5 greater than Sampoorna (p = 0.057; 9.3% vs. 8.7%), with increasing harvesting intervals, respectively. In vitro organic matter digestibility and in vitro metabolizable energy contents were similar across weeks 4, 6, and 8 but then decreased. This study demonstrates that higher dry matter yields (12.54 t/ha) can be obtained through harvesting both cultivars at 12 week HIs, but from a nutritional perspective, harvesting at 6 week HIs during Yala season of the year would be optimum for farmers.

Low pasture biomass production and fodder scarcity are among the major challenges affecting productivity of dairy cattle farms in Sri Lanka. As a potential solution to this, two Napier hybrid cultivars CO-5 and Sampoorna were recently introduced and a field experiment was conducted to evaluate their growth, dry matter production and nutritional composition during May to September 2020. Plant measurements and samples were collected at five harvest intervals (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks after planting), with the plant samples subjected to biomass and nutritional assessments. The number of tillers and leaf length differed (P=0.01) between the two cultivars at 4 weeks harvesting interval (HI) whilst number of leaves differed at 12 HI respectively. Dry matter yield increased (P=0.16) almost linearly whilst crude protein declined exponentially with CO-5 greater than Sampoorna (P=0.057; 9.3% vs 8.7%), with increasing harvesting intervals respectively. In-vitro Organic Matter Digestibility and In-vitro Metabolizable Energy contents were similar across weeks 4, 6 and 8 but then decreased. This study demonstrates that higher dry matter yields (12.54 t/ha) can be obtained by harvesting both cultivars at 12 HI, but from a nutritional perspective harvesting at 6 HI during Yala season of the year would be optimum for farmers.

Context: Grazing-based dairy systems in Australia are a major source of enteric methane production that contributes to global greenhouse-gas emissions. Enhancing pasture quality and incorporating lower methane yielding pasture species into ruminant production systems are dietary manipulation strategies for methane mitigation. Aims: Samples of 12 temperate pasture species collected during spring and autumn in medium- and high-rainfall temperate dairy grazing systems in Victoria, Australia, were screened for their antimethanogenic potential and fermentation profiles during spring and autumn in medium- and high-rainfall temperate dairy grazing systems in Victoria, Australia. Methods: Pasture species (four grasses, four legumes and four herbs) were harvested at a grazing-ready, vegetative, growth stage from farms in the region of either Ellinbank or Hamilton, VIC, Australia, and oven dried at 60°C for 72 h. Ground samples were analysed for their nutritive characteristics and in vitro fermentation characteristics, including methane, volatile fatty acid and ammonia nitrogen production. Key results: Fermentation of legumes resulted in higher total volatile fatty acid concentrations, ammonia nitrogen production and methane production across seasons than did fermentation of grasses and herbs (P < 0.01). The herbs burnet (Sanguisorba minor) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) reduced methane production by 40 to 50% and methane as a proportion of total gas by 20 to 35%, across seasons, compared with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Similarly, burnet and yarrow had the lowest total volatile fatty acid production across both seasons (78.80 and 78.05 mM respectively; P < 0.001). Principal component analysis showed a positive relationship between methane and total gas production and total volatile fatty acids, and a negative relationship with fibre fractions. Conclusions: Both burnet and yarrow were identified as promising species for enteric methane mitigation, likely owing to their plant secondary compound profiles. Implications: Burnet and yarrow are currently uncommon in temperate dairy systems in Australia; however, on the basis of these findings, they should be investigated further for their promising methane mitigation properties. If results can be confirmed in vivo, combining burnet and yarrow into Australian temperate pasture systems would be a cost-effective strategy that farmers could adopt to work towards industry greenhouse-gas reduction targets.