Evaluation of the type of silo associated or not with additives on the nutritional value, aerobic stability, and microbiology of pearl millet silage.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the silo type with the use or not of additives on chemical composition, in vitro gas production, fermentative losses, aerobic stability, fermentative profile, and microbial population of the pearl millet silage. We used a randomized block design in a 2 × 3 factorial scheme, with two types of silos (plastic bags and PVC silos) and three additives ([CON] without additive; 50 g of ground corn [GC], and Lactobacillus plantarum and Propionibacterium acidipropionici, with five replicates per treatment. We evaluated the chemical analyses, in vitro gas production, losses, aerobic stability, pH, ammoniacal nitrogen, and microbial population of the silages. The use of GC in the ensiling process improved the chemical composition of the silages. The additives and the type of silo did not affect (p > 0.05) the gas production kinetics, ammoniacal nitrogen, and population of lactic acid bacteria and fungi. Thus, the use of ground corn improved the nutritional value of the pearl millet silage. In turn, the inoculant provided better aerobic stability for the pearl millet silage. The plastic bag silos without vacuum were not efficient in the ensiling process like the PVC silos, which resulted in low-quality silage.