This study investigated the effects of feeding cotton gin trash (CGT) to Mecheri ram lambs, as an alternate diet, on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality. A growth performance trial was conducted with thirty-two weaned Mecheri ram lambs with an average body weight of 12.64 ± 0.74 kg, which were assigned to four groups (n = eight animals in each group). The diet’s roughage part was replaced by CGT at percentages of 0% (T₁), 25% (T₂), 50% (T₃), and 75% (T₄). The growth trial lasted six months (180 days) from weaning lambs at 3–4 months until 9 months for marketing. All the animals were fed on a dry matter requirement basis at 4% of their body weight. The study revealed that the lambs fed with 50 (T₃) and 75 (T₄) % inclusion levels of CGT showed significantly (p < 0.01) higher total body weight gain than the T₁ and T₂ groups. The average daily gain of lambs in T₃ (99.24 g) and T₄ (105.51 g) were significantly (p < 0.01) higher than T₁ (80.77 g) and T₂ (83.61 g) groups. Throughout the study period, there was no statistically significant (p > 0.05) difference in the average Dry Matter Intake (DMI) (g) between the groups; however, the lambs in T₄ demonstrated higher feed efficiency (7.4) than the T₁ (9.3) group. The slaughter studies revealed that the lambs in the T₄ followed by the T₃ groups registered significantly (p < 0.01) higher hot carcass weight, dressing percentage, and meat: bone ratio than T₂ and T₁ group animals. The T₃ and T₄ groups had significantly (p < 0.05) higher weights of the liver, spleen, head, stomach, and empty intestines when compared to T₁ and T₂ groups; however, there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in the weights of edible and inedible offals. In addition, there were no significant variations (p > 0.05) in pH, WHC, shear force value, sensory characteristics, and proximate composition of meat among treatment groups. The SFA levels in the T₃, T₄, and T₂ groups were substantially (p < 0.01) greater than in the control group (T₁). In contrast, the proportion of MUFA in the T₁ group was significantly (p < 0.05) greater than in the T₃ and T₄ treatment groups. There was no significant difference in PUFA or the PUFA/SFA ratio between the treatment groups. In accordance with current research findings, the CGT can be added up to 75% of the roughage component in sheep feed as an effective unconventional supplementation, as it improves body weight, feed efficiency, and carcass characteristics in Mecheri ram lambs.

Cotton gin trash (CGT) is composed of fibre residues, leaves, dust particles, soil, and other materials derived during the ginning and yarn-spinning process in processing industries. In the cotton-spinning industrial clusters, farmers are using CGT as one of the alternative roughage feeds for their sheep, mainly during forage shortages in the summer months. Baseline information on farmers using gin and the factors driving them to choose CGT as a roughage source needs to be identified for future planning regarding the usage of CGT in sheep feeding. Considering the above facts, the present study was undertaken to assess the socio-personal characteristics and managemental practices associated with farmers using cotton gin in the feeding of sheep; also, it was conducted to identify the factors driving the choice of the CGT as the primary source of roughage in the cotton-spinning industry cluster of Tamil Nadu, India. For this, a survey among 80 sheep farmers was carried out using a pre-tested interview schedule. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics and logit regression. The results indicated that the majority of male, aged, and large-land farmers were involved in practicing CGT feeding during the summer and also indicated the non-availability of green fodder during the same period of time. The coarse type of CGT is preferred over the fine type of CGT trash in that area due to quality perception and price. The replacement level of CGT as roughage ranged from 33 to 75% of the total roughage requirement per day. About 88% of farmers were highly satisfied with the results of using CGT and they also expressed that the presence of foreign particles and dust was the major problem with using CGT. The choice of CGT as primary roughage among sheep farmers was primarily influenced by selective farming contexts, namely, landholding, access to labour, and the feeding practices of other livestock with cotton gin. Furthermore, research needs to be focused on improving the quality of CGT in the future as it is being utilised largely by sheep farmers.

The potential benefits of bioconversion of commercial broiler poultry litter (PL) to vermicompost (with Eudrilus eugeniae) were studied by optimizing the carbon-nitrogen ratio (C/N) using coconut (Cocos nucifera) coir pith (CP) and farm yard manure (FM) as co-substrate. In this experiment, after optimizing the C/N at the levels of 25, 30, and 35, the pre-composting of the PL followed by vermicomposting was done, and the PL and FM alone were used as the control group. After pre-composting, the earthworms (Eudrilus eugeniae) were introduced, and the vermicomposting process was continued for 90 days and the vermicompost samples were analyzed on the 45th and 90th days. The study revealed a significantly (P<0.05) higher Feed Stock Vermicompost Conversion Ratio (FVCR) of 54.00 ± 2.00 in FM alone treatment groups, followed by PLCPFM35 (47.33 ± 1.16), PLCPFM30 (45.33 ± 0.58), PLCP35 (45.33 ± 2.08) and PLCP30 (42.00 ± 1.0). The C/N ratio declined progressively from the start of the vermicomposting and after 90 days in all treatment groups except PL control and the optimization of PL with CP or FM at C/N 30 and 35 alone had good vermicompostability. An increase in total Ca (g kg-1) was recorded during 90th day sampling and ranged between 27.04 ± 5.35 and 21.63 ± 2.62 in treatment groups, where earthworm activity was high. The total K level (g kg-1) at the end of 90th day ranged between 12.13 ± 0.06 and 16.33 ± 0.12 with increasing trend. The PL vermicompost exhibited good physicochemical features, including significant (P<0.05) nitrogen mineralization and the absence of phytotoxic compounds. The experiment revealed that commercial PL as such or at a C/N of 25 could not be utilized for vermicomposting but vermicompostability improved after optimizing the C/N to 30 and 35 respectively and may be utilised vermicomposting. Considering these findings, the use of Eudrilus eugeniae, can maximize the bioconversion of chicken litter into premium vermicompost by carefully balancing the ingredients as advised.

CGT is composed of fiber residues, leaves, dust particles, soil and others derived during the ginning and yarn spinning process at processing industries,. In the cotton spinning industrial clusters, farmers are using CGT) as one of the alternative roughage feed for their sheep, mainly during forage shortages in the summer months. To have baseline information on farmers using gin and factors driving them to choose CGT as a roughage source, which need to be identified for future planning on the usage of CGT in sheep feeding. Considering the above facts, the present study was undertaken to assess socio-personal characteristics, managemental practices associated with farmers using cotton gin in the feeding of sheep and also identify the factors driving the choice of the CGT as the primary source of roughage in the cotton spinning industry cluster of Tamil Nadu. For this, a survey among 80 sheep farmers was carried out using a pre-tested in-terview schedule. The collected data was analysed using descriptive statistics and logit regres-sion. The results indicated that the majority of male, aged, and large-land farmers were involved in practicing CGT feeding during the summer and also indicated the non-availability of green fodder during the summer season. The coarse type of CGT preferred more than the fine type of CGT trash in that area due to quality perception and price. The replacement level of CGT as roughage ranged from 33 to 75% of the total roughage requirement per day. About 88 percent-age of farmers were highly satisfied with the results of using CGT and they also expressed that the presence of foreign particles and dust were the major problems with using CGT. The choice of CGT as primary roughage among sheep farmers was primarily influenced by selective farming contexts, namely landholding, access to labour, and feeding practices of other livestock with cotton gin. Further, research has to be focused on to improve the quality of CGT in the future, as it is being utilised largely by sheep farmers.