Voluntary intake and quality of diet selected by cattle grazing bana grass, kikuyu and forage sorghum

Köster, H.H. and Meissner, H.H. and Coertze , R.J. and Rethman, N.F.J. (1992) Voluntary intake and quality of diet selected by cattle grazing bana grass, kikuyu and forage sorghum. South African Society of Animal Science, 22 (1). pp. 35-41.

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Abstract

Bana grass (Pennisetum purpureum x P. amerieanum) was compared with kikuyu (P. clandestinum) and forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) with respect to quality of samples ;elected by four oesophageally fistulated steers. Hand-cut samples of the three forages were also compared with fistula samples for certain quality parameters. No significant difference (P ≥ 0,05) was found between IVDOM and N content of hand-cut and fistula samples, but ADF and NDF values differed significantly (P ≤0,01). Grazing significantly (P ≤0,05) reduced the leaf: stem ratio of the pastures. Changes in this ratio were, however, not consistent among the different species over different periods. Kikuyu contained more N throughout the growing season than bana grass or sorghum (P ≤0,01), while the IVDOM of sorghum was less (P ≤0,01) than that of bana grass and kikuyu. Seasonal trends were significant on occasions. Kikuyu contained less cell wall (NDF) (P ≤0,05) than bana grass and sorghum but the disappearance of NDF from nylon bags only differed significantly between kikuyu and sorghum. Organic matter intake (faeces voided measured by faecal bags) was consistently in the order of bana grass > sorghum > kikuyu, with a significant (P ≤0,05) difference between bana grass and kikuyu. It was concluded that the general assumption in the literature that hybrid Pennisetum species based on Napier are soft and palatable, may be true for bana grass as well

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: digestibility , intake , Sorghum , Kikuyu , : Bana grass , leaf:stem ratio , oesophageal fistula samples
Author Affiliation: Department of Livestock Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, Republic of South Africa
Subjects: Statistics and Experimentation > Experimentation
Divisions: Sorghum
Depositing User: Mr B Krishnamurthy
Date Deposited: 14 May 2013 10:22
Last Modified: 14 May 2013 10:22
URI: http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/10485

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