Abstract
Water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) manifest different levels of selectivity for different pastures and forages. Knowledge of feed selectivity is important to facilitate the design of efficient production systems that take into account optimal animal welfare. In this study, the selectivity of nine 18-month old female water buffaloes for Leucaena leucocephala, Albizia lebbeck, Gliricidia sepium, and Moringa oleifera was evaluated. After 12 h of grazing Megathyrsus maximum, the animals were housed in individual shelters and 1.2 kg of leaves from each of the four tree species were offered to the animals simultaneously. The selectivity, measured as the intake of dry matter (DM), was highest for A. lebbeck (mean = 0.34 kgDM, SD = 0.05 kg), followed by L. leucocephala (mean = 0.30 kgDM, SD = 0.03 kg), M. oleifera (mean = 0.11 kgDM, SD = 0.05 kg), and G. sepium (mean = 0.10 kgDM, SD = 0.02 kg) (P < 0.01). The crude protein intake was highest for A. lebbeck and L. leucocephala. Notably, the less selected leaves were those of G. sepium and M. oleifera. This study suggests that the inclusion of A. lebbeck and L. leucocephala in silvopastoral systems may increase both the consumption and well-being of water buffaloes in the tropics.
Highlights
The importance of buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) as a productive species has increased worldwide by 2% in recent years with a total population of 202 million [1]
The aim of this study was to evaluate the selectivity of water buffaloes for four tree species (L. leucocephala, A. lebbeck, G. sepium, M. oleifera) that are commonly used in silvopastoral systems as demonstrated in the aforementioned studies
The CPI was highest in A. lebbeck and L. leucocephala followed by M. oleifera and G. sepium (P < 0.01; Figures 2B, 3B)
Summary
The importance of buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) as a productive species has increased worldwide by 2% in recent years with a total population of 202 million [1]. Cuba has a population of 6 × 104 buffaloes [2, 3] with an annual increase of 13.7% and comparatively less than Brazil with 3 × 106 buffaloes [4]. The advantages of using buffaloes in tropical environments are the resistance to heat stress under shade [6, 7], and the fact that it allows this species to maintain birth rates above 80%, which is higher than cattle in similar conditions [8]. The milk production per hectare (ha) is lower than cattle due to the low stocking rates (0.6–0.8 animals/ha) currently used to breed buffaloes [8, 9]. The capacity of buffaloes to digest highly fibrous diets [10, 11] makes the use of trees an attractive strategy for the incorporation of proteins in the diet of these animals [12,13,14,15]
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