THE INFLUENCE OF PROBIOTIC SUPPLEMENTATION ON NITROUS OXIDE AND CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS OF GROWING MALE DAIRY BUFFALOES (Bubalus bubalis L.)

Abstract

The influence of probiotics on the nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions was evaluated on four (4) growing male dairy buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis L.) with similar body weight (250.38 ± 10.38 kg), age (15-16 mos). The animals were allocated into four treatments following a Latin Square design. Treatment 1 (T1) was the control with no probiotic supplement, Treatment 2 (T2) was supplemented with 5 ml probiotics, Treatment 3 (T3) was offered 10 ml and Treatment 4 (T4) was given 15 ml. The range of accumulated N2O was from 0.4047- 0.5137 g d-1 and the animals offered with T2 had the lowest emission (p-value < 0.05). The range of accumulated CO2 was from 3656.27- 4122.50 g d-1, however, it was not affected by probiotic supplementation. While no significant correlation (p-value > 0.05) was found between N2O emissions and digestibility parameters, CO2 emissions showed a significant correlation (p-value < 0.05) with most digestibility parameters (GE, NDF, CP and DM). This study demonstrates the potential of probiotic supplementation to reduce N₂O emissions and emphasizes the role of digestibility parameters in estimating CO₂ emissions.