Stobbs, T.H. (1975) A comparison of zulu sorghum, bulrush millet and white panicum in terms of yield, forage quality and milk production. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, 15 (73). pp. 211-218.
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Abstract
Yield and nutritive value of 3 summer annual forages, (a) hybrid forage sorghum cv. Zulu, (b) bulrush millet (Pennisetum typhoides cv. [= P. americanum] cv. Tamworth) and (c) white panicum millet (Echinochloa crusgalli var. edulis) were determined in 3 experiments. Uninterrupted growth was measured every 2 weeks between 4 and 12 weeks after sowing, and leaf, stem and inflorescence components analysed for N, P, Ca, Mg. Na, and K and DM digestibility by an in vitro technique. The value of 10-week-old herbage from crops given 50 kg N/ha was determined by grazing with 18 Jersey cows and by feeding chopped material to 12 cows indoors. DM yields were lowest in (c) (6.36 t/ha at 10 weeks) but it had the highest contents of N, P, Ca, and Mg in both leaf and stem fractions at all growth stages. After 10 weeks growth, (c) contained a high proportion of seed and was eaten in larger quantities than (a) or (b). Cows grazing (c) produced the highest daily milk yields, 6.5 and 7.1 kg/cow indoors and grazing, respectively, and milk from these cows contained a higher SNF and protein content than milk from cows fed (a) or (b). The highest DM yields (11.24 t/ha at 12 weeks in experiment 1 and 8.15 t at 10 weeks in experiment 2) were in (a). With advancing maturity, stem content increased (>80% from 8 weeks onwards) and the N content of both leaf and stem fractions rapidly declined to sub-optimum levels. Daily milk yields of cows feeding on (a) was low, averaging 4.7 and 6.0 kg/cow for indoor and grazing, respectively. (b) produced high forage yields with a higher leaf content than (a) and milk yields were also higher. Butterfat content of milk from cows feeding on (b) was lower than when cows were fed (a) or (c). It was concluded that these 3 forages were capable of providing a large bulk of feed but their feeding value at a semi-mature stage of growth was similar to perennial tropical pastures
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Author Affiliation: | Division of Tropical Agronomy, CSIRO, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia |
| Subjects: | Plant Production Animal Husbandary |
| Divisions: | Millet Sorghum |
| Depositing User: | Ms K Syamalamba |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Aug 2012 05:34 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Aug 2012 05:35 |
| URI: | http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/7088 |
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