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MINERAL STATUS OF FORAGE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THAT OF PLASMA OF FARM ANIMALS IN SOUTHERN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

ZAFAR IQBAL KHAN^1*, MUHAMMAD ASHRAF², KAFEEL AHMAD¹, EHSAN ELAHI VALEEM^3* AND L. R. MCDOWELL⁴

Abstract: This study shows seasonal effect on Ca, Mg, Na and K status in both plants and goats at a particular Livestock Experimental Station in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The mean concentration of these metals in the forage was high in summer while low in winter. Plasma contained higher concentration of Mg both in lactating and dry classes during winter than those during summer; however, a reverse trend was found for most groups during both the seasons. Plasma K concentration was non-homogenous in all the classes with higher concentration in males followed by dry goats. Both seasons affected plasma Na concentration with higher concentration in summer than that in winter among all the groups of goats under investigation.

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan.

²Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan.

³Public Private Partnership Unit (PPPU), Planning and Development Department, Government of Sindh, Karachi-74200, Pakistan.

⁴Animal Science Department, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110910 Gainesville, Florida 32611-0691, USA.