Development of Leucaena Mimosine-Degrading Bacteria in the Rumen of Sheep in Myanmar

Myanmar has an agricultural base, and about 70% of people reside in rural areas. They depend for survival on agriculture and small-scale crop production, with ruminant livestock consuming fibrous agricultural residues. For optimal ruminant production, concentrates are needed as supplements to these residues. As concentrates are expensive, researchers are testing alternative protein sources like legumes, including foliage from leguminous trees such as leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala). Leucaena is the most widely used leguminous tree as a ruminant feed because it is rich in protein (~ 22%) and contains easily digestible fibre (23% neutral detergent fibre, 16.6% acid detergent fibre; Ni Ni Maw 2004). Khin Htay Myint (2005) noted that 25% of leucaena in the ration tended to increase nitrogen retention without decreasing dry matter and organic matter digestibilities. However, leucaena leaves contain a toxic non-protein amino acid, called mimosine. Research workers have endeavoured to reduce mimosine toxicity in animals fed leucaena in Myanmar (Aung Aung 2007, Wink Phyo Thu 2010) and one avenue of research was the development of mimosine-degrading bacteria in the rumen of sheep fed leucaena. In this paper we describe an experiment tracing the development of mimosine-degrading bacteria in the rumen of sheep

Effect of leucaena forage and silage substitution in concentrates on digestibility, nitrogen utilization and milk yield in dairy cows

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of feeding leucaena forage and silage substitution in concentrate on the performances of dairy cows. Nine cross-bred Holstein Friesian cows (410±12kg) in the 12th week of lactation were randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups with three replicates/treatments in a completely randomized design. The three treatments were control diet without substitution of leucaena forage and silage (DLFS0), diet with substitution of leucaena forage 10% (DLF10) and diet with substitution of leucaena silage 10% (DLS10). Cows were fed treatments for 60 days. Although nutrient intakes were not significantly different (p>0.05) each other, digestibility of DLFS0 was significantly higher (p<0.05) than others. Conversely, nitrogen utilization and average milk yield of cows offered DLFS0 were significantly lower (p<0.05) than those of cows fed on DLF10 and DLS10. The highest feed cost (p<0.05) per kg of milk was found in DLFS0 and the lowest cost was observed in DLF10. Therefore, although the leucana forage and silage could be substitute up to 10% of concentrates without adverse effects on the performances of dairy cows, the substitution of leucaena forage gave the better performances than that of leucaena silage

Evaluation of Tropical Herbaceous Legumes for Drought Resistance in Myanmar

Animal nutrition systems in the tropical and subtropical countries utilize a wide range of feedstuffs, mainly the crops and agricultural by-products, grasses, legumes, trees and shrubs. During the dry season, the crude protein concentration in the native grasses can drop below 3% crude protein (Atta-Krah and Reynolds, 1989). Fodder tree is not sufficient and is of low quality in Myanmar (Myo and Aye, 2007). Shrubs represent an enormous potential source of protein for ruminants in the tropics (Devendra, 1992). Browses are rich in nitrogen and minerals which are low in other conventional feeds of tropical regions. Herbaceous legume species play an important role in feeding ruminants worldwide. Herbaceous forage legume have been identified as potential protein supplements for ruminants since they contain high crude protein, minerals and vitamins needed for the growth of ruminal microbes (Norton and Poppi,1995). Herbaceous legumes can be grown as a relay within cereal crops or as a rotation with cereals. Herbaceous legumes can access ‎atmospheric ‎N‎ (‘fixation’)‎ through‎ bacterial‎ activity‎ in‎ root ‎nodules.‎ The‎ ‘fixed’ ‎N‎ becomes‎ available ‎to‎ the‎ legume and subsequent cereal crops. Herbaceous legumes are best planted from seed (Nulik et al., 2013). The aim of using herbaceous legumes in cropping systems is to increase animal productivity, particularly live weight gain in animals being prepared for market. Herbaceous legumes may be fed directly to animals as fresh material in the late wet and early dry seasons, with browse or tree legumes retained for later dry season feeding, or stored as hay and fed in the late dry or early wet seasons when the availability and quality of local feed is lower (Nulik et al., 2013). Legume based pastures give high individual animal performance for growth, fattening, reproduction and wool growth. Cattle live weight gain has been related positively to the proportion of legume in the sward (Mureithi et al., 1995). As pastures become mature, they are characterized by high content of fibre with a higher grade of lignifications and low protein content (Enoh et al., 2005). In Myanmar there is only 0.35% cultivated pasture area to that of cultivated acreages. The improvement and development of pasture is a necessity for Myanmar (Myo and Aye, 2007). For that reason it is needed to evaluate the yield herbaceous legumes for the potential use for ruminants in Myanmar