VETERINARY COLLEGE AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE, THENI

DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL NUTRITION

The Department of Animal Nutrition was established in the year 2020 to offer B.V.Sc & A.H. undergraduate courses in Animal Nutrition at Veterinary College and Research Institute, Theni. The mandate of this department is to offer undergraduate veterinary science courses, to undertake area specific and field-oriented research and to actively contribute by technical assistance for the implementation of government programs on fodder production and transfer of nutritional technologies to enhance livestock and poultry production in south western zone of Tamil Nadu.

Objectives

Education:

To offer undergraduate courses in Animal Nutrition.

Research:

To undertake research in area specific and field-oriented research on nutritional interventions to improve the productivity of Livestock and Poultry in South western Zone of Tamil Nadu.

Extension:

To provide Technical assistance to the Livestock and poultry farmers to augment the productivity of their animals by transfer of nutritional interventions and latest TANUVAS nutritional technologies for adoption and benefit to farming community.

Education:

The Department is currently offering the Undergraduate course Animal Nutrition Paper I & II (3+1) in the Second Professional year of B.V.Sc. & A.H.

Unit I : Principles of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology
Unit II : Applied Ruminant Nutrition-I
Unit III: Applied Ruminant Nutrition-II
Unit IV : Applied Non-Ruminant Nutrition

Research

Thrust areas of research: Long-term goals

Feed and fodder development suitable for south western zone of Tamil Nadu
Assessment of nutrient requirements of various species of livestock and poultry
Standardization of feeding practices in the kombai breed dog
Feeding strategies to utilize the non-conventional feed resources available in the south western regions of Tamil Nadu for improving the livestock productivity

Thrust areas of research: Short-term goals

Evaluation of new and unconventional feeds of western region.
Studying nutrient requirements of desi chicken, native sheep and goat breeds.

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 Nutritional technologies from laboratory to field for adoption.
Facilitating the supply of farm inputs like fodder seeds/ slips and TANUVAS SMART Mixture, TANUVAS GRAND Supplementation, TANUVAS Mineralized Salt Lick to the needy farmers.
Publication of popular articles, books, booklets, training manuals, pamphlets for the benefit of farmers.

Infrastructure Highlights

The department building consists of UG laboratory which includes

Energy metabolism laboratory (1445 sq.ft)
Feed and Fodder analysis laboratory (664 sq.ft)
Feed processing and mixing plant (1126 sq.ft)

The Department also have separate Staff rooms, Office room, Utility room and Store room. The Under Graduate laboratory of the department is well-equipped with the following equipments for carrying out various analytical procedures as per MSVE 2016 regulations.

Equipments available at Department of Animal Nutrition, VCRI, Theni:

Energy metabolism laboratory

Hot plate (2 Nos)
Hot plate bench
Monopan digital balance
Kjeldahl digestion system
Kjeldahl distillation system
Muffle furnace
Hot air oven
Single distillation apparatus set
Water bath
Desiccator
3 KVA Online UPS with six batteries
Electric Bunsen Burner (10 Nos)

Feed and fodder analysis laboratory

Kjeldahl digestion system
Kjeldahl distillation system
Thin Layer Chromatography Apparatus
Monopan digital balance (2 Nos)
Muffle furnace
Hot air oven
Micro kjeldahl distillation apparatus set
pH meter
Wiley Mill
Suction pump
Refrigerator

Feed Processing and Mixing Plant

Feed Mill- 1 MT / hr. capacity Mash Feed Plant
Weighing Balance 300 Kg (2 Nos)
Weighing Balance 15 Kg (1 No)
Feed Formulation System- Laptop and Printer
Refrigerator

Student Outreach Activities

Educational Tour and Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme

The Second professional year students of Veterinary College and Research Institute, Theni are regularly taken to exposure visit to Commercial Feed Mills, Feed testing laboratory and livestock and poultry farms as a part of MSVE 2016 syllabus.
The Department of Animal Nutrition organizing an awareness programme on “Employment and Entrepreneurship opportunities in Animal Feed and Related Industries in Animal Husbandry Sector” for the Final professional year and Second Professional year students.

Farmers Outreach Activities

Technical advises are being given to the farmers on feed formulation, fodder production and Scientific feeding management for Livestock and Poultry
Analysis of feed ingredients, feeds and fodder samples from farmers field on need basis and guidance are being given to them based on the report.

Research Initiatives

Various conventional and unconventional feeds from the Southwestern districts of Tamil Nadu are being collected and analysed for its nutrient composition to explore the possibilities of its inclusion in Livestock and poultry feed to reduce the production cost and also better utilization of locally available resources.

Faculty

Name of the Faculty	Designation	E-mail	Mobile#
THIRUMEIGNANAM,D	ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND HEAD	drthirumeignanam@gmail.com	9791090641
BALAMURUGAN,R	ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR	nutritionbalu@gmail.com	7358100661
THIRUMALAISAMY,G	ASSISTANT PROFESSOR	nutritionthirumalai@gmail.com	9698528610

The Head of the Department,
Department of Animal Nutrition,
Veterinary College and Research Institute,Veerapandi, Theni – 625 534.
Phone: +91-4546-235400
E-mail: ann-vcri-thn@tanuvas.org.in