Potential and utilization of sorghum in dry land as animal feed

Abstract

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Monch) is a cereal crop that is drought tolerant and can be produced worldwide. Sorghum plants can be developed in Indonesia as animal feed. This is due to agroecological conditions that can tolerate land conditions in Indonesia. This article aims to review the potential and utilization of sorghum as a source of animal feed that can be developed on dry land. The article method uses descriptive by reviewing the results of research on sorghum. Harvest can be done at the age of 85 to 90 days because sorghum has high nutritional value and is a substitute for other feed sources, because it has a high chemical composition, vitamin, mineral, and energy content. The nutritional content of crude protein sorghum is 10,4, fat 1,5 and ash 6,8%. In fresh conditions, the leaves and stems of sorghum do not last long, so it needs processing in the form of silage to extend its shelf life so that it can be used in the dry season. Giving feed derived from leaves, straw, by-products of sorghum shows a positive response in livestock. This study concludes that orgum has the potential to be developed as a source of animal feed because it has a fairly good nutritional content and has the potential to be developed on dry land.