Potentials of Ensiled Panicum Maximum with Different Crop Residues as Ruminant Feed During Dry Season

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to determine the nutritive value of ensiled guinea grass with different additives using in-vitro gas production method. The silage were in 5 treatments T1: 90% of guinea grass + 10% yellow maize residue, T2: 90% of guinea grass + 10% white maize residue, T3: 90% of guinea grass + 10% guinea corn residue, T4: 90% of guinea grass + 10% soy bean residue, T5: 100% of guinea grass.. The silage quality, physical properties, chemical composition, the in vitro gas production after 24hours of incubation were investigated. Methane (CH4) gas produced was measured. Metabolizable energy (ME), Organic matter digestibility (OMD) and the short chain fatty acid (SCFA) were estimated from the in vitro gas production parameters. The colour of the silage varied among the silage treatments and were closer to the colours of the fresh forage. All the silage had pleasant smell and the temperature had no significant difference among the silage treatments. The pH ranged from 4.23 � 5.60 which has significant difference among the silage treatments. The chemical composition of the silage were as follows: Dry matter (DM) 23.73 to 29.50%, Crude protein (CP), 6.93 to 11.05%; Crude fibre (CF), 27.84 to 31.20%; and ash, 15.01 to 17.50%. Hemicellulose ranges from 23.29 to 26.05%, Cellulose ranges from 21.07 to 30.50%. The mineral composition value of the ensiled ranges are as follow: CA, 0.19 to 0.23%; P, 0.17 to 0.19%; NA, 0.08 to 0.11%; k, 0.34 to 0.45%; MG, 0,10 to 0.13%. Potential gas production varied from 13.00 ml/200mg DM to 18.67 ml/200mg DM. The high (P<0.05) potential gas value of 18.67 ml/200mg DM was obtained for silage T4. The highest value of ME (5.41MJ/kg DM); OMD (46.10%) and SCFA (0.51-mol) were obtained in silage T3 which contain 90% guinea grass with 10%guineacorn residue. Result indicates that silage from 90% guinea grass with 10% white maize residue have the best nutritive value.