Assessment of Feed Resource Availability and Quality in Kedida Gamela District, Southern Ethiopia

Availability of major livestock feed resources, their chemical composition and balance between available feed resources and requirements of existing tropical livestock units (TLU) in Kedida Gamela district (Southern Ethiopia) were assessed. A survey was conducted on 100 sample households (HH) and data collected using group discussions, structured questionnaire and personal observations. Furthermore, chemical composition and in vitro dry matter (DM) digestibility (IVDMD) of major feed resources identified (natural pasture and crop residues) were also determined. A total of 28,675 tonnes of DM were produced annually for a total of 40,080 TLU which satisfies only 31.4% of their maintenance requirement. Maize stover and wheat straw contain lowest ash and from agro-industrial by-products noug cake and wheat bran the highest ash content. The highest (p0.05) between the agro-industrial by-products. The highest acid detergent lignin content for roughage feed was recorded from maize stover to natural pasture and the highest from agro-industrial by-products was recorded from wheat bran to noug cake. Differences in IVDMD for major feed resources were not significant (P>0.05). The differences in nutrient composition and IVDMD of the feed resources in midland and highland followed similar trend, although there were slight differences in nutrient content and IVDMD of similar feedstuffs from the two altitudinal zones. In conclusion, the main feed resource is crop residues which are of low quality with high fiber content, low digestibility which may result in reduced livestock productivity and disease resistance. Chopping followed by soaking or ammonaition or urea treatment could be suggested to improve quality of the roughages

Characterization of crop residues from false banana/Ensete ventricosum/in Ethiopia in view of a full-resource valorization

Research ArticleFalse banana /Ensete ventricosum [Welw.] Cheesman/ is exploited as a food crop in Ethiopia where it represents an important staple food. The plant is harvested and large amounts of biomass residues are originated, mainly from the pseudo stem (i.e., fiber bundles obtained from the leaf sheaths after being scrapped to produce starchy food) and the inflorescence stalk. These materials were studied in relation to their summative chemical composition, composition of lignin, lipophilic and polar extracts. Moreover, their structural characteristics, in view of their valorization, were scrutinized. The analytical studies were performed with the aid of FTIR, GC/MS, Py-GC/MS and SEM. The fiber bundles are aggregates of mainly long and slender fibers with low ash, extractives and lignin contents (3.8%. 4.4% and 10.5% respectively) and high holocellulose and α-cellulose contents (87.5% and 59.6% respectively). The hemicelluloses in the fibers are mostly highly acetylated xylans and the lignin is of the H-type (H:G:S, 1:0.7:0.8). This lignin composition is in line with the FTIR peaks at 1670 cm-1 and 1250 cm-1.The inflorescence stalk has high ash content (12.3% in the main stalk and 24.6% in fines) with a major proportion of potassium, high extractives (25.9%), and low lignin and α-cellulose contents (5.8% and 17.9% respectively). The stalk includes numerous starch granules in the cellular structure with the predominant presence of parenchyma. The potential valorization routes for these materials are clearly different. The fiber bundles could be used as a fiber source for paper pulp production with the possibility of a prior hemicelluloses removal while the inflorescence stalk has nutritional value for food and fodder. Furthermore, it can also be used for sugar fermentation productsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of Sweet Potato Leaf Supplementation on Growth and Nutrient Digestibility in Sheep

The effects of feeding dried sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) leaf (SPL) on growth performance, digestibility, and nitrogen (N) utilization were studied in sheep. Twenty-four rams with initial body weight of 18.5 ± 1.49 kg were randomly allocated to four treatments containing ad libitum natural grass hay alone (T1), hay + 150 g SPL (T2), hay + 300 g SPL (T3) and hay + 450 g SPL (T4) on as fed basis. Results indicated that dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) in-takes increased (P < 0.001) with increasing levels of SPL. Sheep fed with T2, T3 and T4 diets gained 55.1, 52.6 and 66.5 g per head per day, respectively, while the gain of non-supplemented sheep (9.19 g per head per day) differed (P < 0.05). Digestibility of DM, OM, and CP was higher (P < 0.01) for all supplemented sheep compared with the control. The CP digestibility and N retention were negative in non-supplemented sheep. Urinary N excretion decreased (P < 0.001) with the increasing levels of SPL supplementation. The N retention improved with the increasing levels of SPL and was the highest (P < 0.001) in sheep fed with T4 diet and the lowest in non-supplemented sheep. In conclusion, supplementing a basal diet of natural grass hay with SPL considerably improved the average daily gain, OM and CP digestibility and N retention

Evaluation of anthelmintic activities of crude leaf extracts of three indigenous herbal plants against ovine gastrointestinal nematodosis

An experiment was carried out to evaluate anthelmintic activities of three herbal plants, namely; Dodonea viscose, Albizzia gummifera and Veronia amygdalina against gastrointestinal nematode infections in sheeThe experiment was set in a parallel group design (PGD) with five treatment groups each consisting four animals. The first group (G1) was treated with Albendazole (negative control) and the remaining three groups (G2, G3, and G4) received crude extracts of the candidate herbs. The fifth group (G5) was left untreated (positive control). Efficacy of the tested materials was measured based on the significances in the reduction in mean faecal egg count (MFECC) and improvements in mean body weight changes (MBWC) before and after treatments. Albizzia gummifera showed significant (p0.05) anthelementic activities were observed with Dodonea viscose (MFECC (%)=1.2±0.56, and MBWC =10.2±1.96,P>0.05) and Veronia amygdalina (MFECC (%)=-5.7±0.5 and MBWC (%)4.2±10. Albizzia gummifera was thus proved to bring maximum anthelmintic effects. However, further experiments need to be carried out to determine the optimal curative dose without any untoward toxicity effect on recipient subjects. In addition, it is recommended to evaluate the medicinal effects of the roots and barks of Albizzia gummifera against various species of helminths. This study also revealed that not all herbal plants traditionally used by farmers have anthelmintic effects. Future evaluation of medicinal values of indigenous herbs in Ethiopia is needed and conducted following standard procedures employing both in vitro and in vivo experiments