Tea Plan t e rs an d Assi mi lat i on wi t h t h e In d i gen ou s Peop le of Assa m Dr A mo rj i t S ai ki a Associ at e P ro fes so r Dep art men t of S oci ology M argh e ri t a Coll ege Ab st ract : T he t ea pla nt at io n sc at t er ed t hr o ugho ut t he Br ahmaput r a and Bar ak va l le ys. T he Upper Ass a m o f t he Br a hmaput r a va l le y beg inning fr o m Bo kakhat t o war ds t he east and no rt h east co ver ing S ibsagar , D ibr ugar h a nd T insuk ia d ist r ict s, ha ve o ccupied mo r e t han 50% o f t he la nd by t ea p la nt at io ns. L ikew is e, fr o m Dhek ia ju l i t o Lak himpur in t he no r t h ba nk t ea gar de n s ha ve o ccup ied a bo ut 30% o f t he t ot al la nd ar eas. I n t he Bar ak va l l e y t he d ist r ict s o f Kar imga nj, Ha ila ka nd i d ist r ict s ha ve t he lar ge st ar ea o f p la nt at io ns. T he p eo ple w it h t he ir d if fer e nt so c io-cult ur a l backgr o und liv ing in t he p la nt at io n ar e a lr ead y a ss i m i lat ed t o eac h ot her and fo r med t he t ea gar den co mmu nit y. T he as s i mi lat io n pr o cess a mo ng t ho se peo p le t oo k plac e ver y r ap id l y due t o t he ir co mmo n eco no mic at mo spher e in t he p la nt at io ns. Bu s y l i fe in t he p la nt at io n led t he m t o fo r get t he ir ind iv idua l so c ia l o r der s and l ive co mm o n so c io-cu lt ur al l i fe. I nd ividu a l r it ua ls beco me co mmo n ce le br at io ns, spec ia l l y, t ho se bear ing s i m ilar it ie s. Ke y wo r ds: pl ant at i on, assi mi l at ed, soci o-cul t ural l if e, B rahmaput ra and B arak val l eys et c. I. In t rod u ct i on : T he t ea p la nt at io n scat t er ed t hr o ugho ut t he Br ahmaput r a and Bar ak va l le ys. T he Upper Assa m o f t he Br a hmaput r a va lle y beg inning fr o m Bo kakha t t o war ds t he east and no rt h east co ver ing S ibsag ar , Dibr ugar h and T insuk ia d ist r ict s, have o ccupied mo r e t han 50% o f t he la nd by t ea pla nt at io ns. L ik ew ise, fr o m D hek ia ju l i t o Lakhimpur in t he no rt h ba nk t ea gar dens ha ve o ccupied abo ut 30% o f t he t ot al la nd ar eas. I n t he B ar ak va l le y t he d ist r ict s o f Kar img anj, Ha ilaka nd i d ist r ict s ha ve t he lar ge st ar ea o f p la nt at io ns. A l l o f t he t ea gar de ns o f bo t h t he va l le ys wer e o pened by t he Br it is h t ea p la nt er s, whic h in lat er per io d, so me o f t he m so ld t o t he nat ive o wner s. T he p la nt at io ns e mp lo y la bo ur er s in per ma ne nt and t e mpo r ar y ba s is. T he per ma ne nt la bo ur er s ar e kept fo r fr ee a cces s fo r t he w ho le year w hi le t he casua ls w ho ar e e mp lo yed o nly dur ing t he p luck ing se ss io ns, a l lo wed t o live in t he p la nt at io n w it h t he ir r e lat ives w ho is i mper ma ne nt e mp l o yee. A few o t her s l ive in t he ir

E u n i c eY. A d e k e y e 1 , Ol u b u k o l aA. I s a h 2 a n dA d e t a y oB. A d e k e y e 3 F e d e r a l U n i v e r s i t yo f A g r i c u l t u r e , A b e o k u t a , Ni g e r i a , P. M. B. 2 2 4 0 , A l a b a t a , A b e o k u t a d u p e 2 0 0 9 4 f a v o r @y a h o o. c o m A B S T R A C T T h i ss t u d yc a r r i e do u ti nF e d e r a l U n i v e r s i t yo fA g r i c u l t u r e , A b e o k u t ae v a l u a t e st h ef e e d i n g v a l u eo fM.o l e i f e r al e a fme a l-b a s e d(MOL M)c o n c e n t r a t ea ss u p p l e me n tf o rWe s tA f r i c a n d wa r f(WA D)s h e e pp r o d u c t i o n .F i v ed i e t a r yc o n c e n t r a t e swe r ef o r mu l a t e dwi t hM. o l e i f e r a i n c l u d e da t 0 %, 5 %, 1 0 %, 1 5 % a n d2 0 % o f c o n c e n t r a t ed i e t a n dc h e mi c a l c o mp o s i t i o no f t h e d i e t swa sd e t e r mi n e du s i n g2 5WA Ds h e e p(r = 5). R e s u l t ss h o we dt h a td i e twi t h2 0 % MOL M i n c l u s i o n h a d t h e h i g h e s tC P c o n t e n t(2 1. 6 0 %) ,a s h (1 8. 7 5 %) ,A st h e l e v e lo fi n c l u s i o n i n c r e a s e df r o m 0-2 0 %MOL M, t h e r ewa sad e c r e a s ei nme t h a n ep r o d u c t i o nf r o m 1 3. 0 0-8. 5 0 mL / 2 0 0mgD M. T h eh i g h e s tme t a b o l i z a b l ee n e r g y(ME)(2 4. 5 3MJ / k gD M)wa so b t a i n e da t 2 0 % MOL M i n c l u s i o nwh e r e a sh i g h e s t (p < 0. 0 5) v a l u e so f o r g a n i cma t t e rd i g e s t i b i l i t y(8 7. 6 3 %) a n di nv i t r oDr yMa t t e rd i g e s t i b i l i t y(I V D MD) (9 5. 8 3 %) we r eo b t a i n e da t 1 5 % MOL M i n c l u s i o n. T h es t u d yc o n c l u d e dt h a t2 0 % MOL M i n c l u s i o nr e d u c e dme t h a n ep r o d u c t i o na n di mp r o v e d t h eC Pc o n t e n t a swe l l a sME , I V D MDa n dOMD. K e yWo r d s Me t h a n ep r o d u c t i o n , i nv i t r oDr yMa t t e r d i g e s t i b i l i t y , me t a b o l i z a b l ee n e r g ya n do r g a n i c ma t t e r d i g e s t i b i l i t y I n t r o d u c t i o n T r e el e a v e sa r er i c hi nc r u d ep r o t e i n , mi n e r a l sa n dd i g e s t i b l en u t r i e n t swh e nc o mp a r e dt o g r a s s e s. On eo f s u c ht r e e si sMo r i n g ao l e i f e r a. T h et r e eh a dg r e a t l yg a i n e dr e s e a r c ha t t e n t i o n wi t h i nt h eWe s tA f r i c a ns u b-r e g i o na sa n i ma l f e e ds u p p l e me n tt oa d d r e s st h eo b s e r v e dC P s h o r t a g eo f n a t u r a l p a s t u r ea n dc r o pr e s i d u e s. I nt h eq u e s t f o re f f i c i e n t f e e d i n gp r o g r a mmemo s t e s p e c i a l l yd u r i n gt h eo f f-s e a s o n swi t ht h e u s eo fs u p p l e me n t si n c r e a s e st h eMe t h a n ep r o d u c t i o nf r o m t h er u mi n a n t s ,a n dg l o b a l l y , 5 0 – 6 0 % o fme t h a n ee mi s s i o n sa r ef r o m t h ea g r i c u l t u r a ls e c t o r ,s p e c i f i c a l l yf r o m l i v e s t o c k p r o d u c t i o no p e r a t i o n s ; t h ep r i n c i p a l s o u r c eo f me t h a n ei sf r o m r u mi n a n t s(E l l i se t a l. , 2 0 0 7). D o me s t i c a t e dr u mi n a n t ,s u c ha sc a t t l e ,s h e e p ,a n dg o a t sp r o d u c ea smu c ha s8 6mi l l i o n me t r i ct o n n e s(T g) o f me t h a n ep e r y e a r (Mc Mi c h a e l e t a l. , 2 0 0 7) .I t i st h e r e f o r ei mp e r a t i v et o c a r r yo u t t ar e s e a r c ht h a t e s t a b l i s h e sa ne f f i c i e n t WA Ds h e e pn u t r i t i o nt h a t r e d u c e sMe t h a n e p r o d u c t i o nwi t h o u t c o mp r o mi s i n gc r u d ep r o t e i n , me t a b o l i z a b l ee n e r g ya n dd i g e s t i b i l i t i e s. Ma t e r i a l sa n dMe t h o d s T h ee x p e r i me n t a l d i e t sc o n s i s t e do fc o n c e n t r a t ewi t hv a r y i n gl e v e l so fd r i e dMo r i n g al e a v e s a n db a s a ld i e to fP a n i c u m ma x i mu m (G u i n e ag r a s s) .T h eP .ma x i mu m wa sh a r v e s t e di n n a t u r a l p a s t u r e , wi l t e do v e r-n i g h tb e f o r eb e i n gf e dt ot h ea n i ma l s. Ont h eo t h e rh a n d , t h e Mo r i n g al e a v e s(b e f o r ef l o we r i n g)we r ec o l l e c t e da n da i rd r i e du n t i lac o n s t a n twe i g h ti s r e a c h e da n dp r e s e r v e d ; t h ec o n c e n t r a t ewa sf o r mu l a t e da ss h o wnt a b l e1. C r u d ep r o t e i n(C P) wa sc a r r i e do u t a c c o r d i n gt oA. O. A. C. (2 0 0 0) p r o c e d u r e. Wh i l eI nv i t r og a s p r o d u c t i o n , Me t a b o l i z a b ee n e r g ya n dOr g a n i cma t t e rd i g e s t i b i l i t ywe r ed e t e r mi n e d(Me n k e