Silage fermentation, chemical composition and ruminal degradation of king grass, cassava foliage and their mixture

Abstract

AbstractIn order to improve the fermentation quality and nutritional value of king grass (KG) by using available local feed resources, silages were prepared using KG, KG supplemented with 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% fresh cassava foliage (CF), and CF. Their fermentation quality, chemical composition and ruminal degradation were examined after 30 days of ensiling. The results showed that CF silage contained 22.67% crude protein (CP) and 41.19% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) per dry matter (DM), while KG silage contained 8.36% CP and 60.44% NDF, indicating that KG silage had poor fermentation quality and low ruminal degradability. In addition, silage prepared with increased CF content had increased lactic acid, ether extract (EE), CP contents and relative feed value (p < 0.05), decreased butyric acid, NDF and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents (p < 0.05) and increased ruminal degradability of DM, CP, NDF and ADF (p < 0.05). The results confirmed that CF supplementation could improve fermentation quality, chemical composition and ruminal degradation of mixed silage, and the optimal ratio of CF to KG for mixed silage was 50:50.