Chemical Composition, in situ Degradability and in vitro Gas Production of Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis) Forage Harvested at Different Stages

The leguminous tree tagasaste is highly productive in the Ethiopian highlands. However, its nutritional value, as affected by the different agronomic practices is not fully understood under the tropical highland conditions. This study investigated the quality profile of tagasaste forage harvested at different re-growth stages by measuring the chemical composition, in situ degradability and in vitro gas production. Tagasaste re-growths after one year of establishment was harvested and the re-growths starting from the main rainy season (July) was harvested at 4, 6, 8 and 10 months. The harvested forages were fractionated into leaves and edible branches. Chemical composition, in situ degradability using rumen fistulated steers and in vitro gas production using rumen fluid from rumen fistulated dry cows were evaluated. The average crude protein (CP) content of tagasaste in the leaves ranged between 189 and 242 g kg-1 dry matter (DM) was not significantly affected by harvesting stage regrowth. The neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin and ether extract contents of tagasaste increased with length of re-growth. The amino acid profile of tagasaste protein showed high contents of the essential amino acids leucine and lysine but lower contents of methionine and histidine. Tagasaste grown under Ethiopian highland conditions was found deficient in phosphorus, sulphur, and sodium, but had adequate amounts of calcium, potassium, zinc and iron. The average in situ potential and effective degradability of leaves were 795 and 518 g kg-1 DM respectively and was lowest at the 10 months harvesting stage. The in vitro gas production declined with length of re-growth. Gas production was higher for leaves followed by branches with mean value of 43.7 and 39.1 ml 200-1 mg DM at 24 h respectively. The high CP content, degradability and in vitro gas production of tagasaste forage reveals its high potential to be used as a protein supplement for ruminants. The studied quality parameters should be further verified using animal performance

Field performance of tagasaste (Chamaecytisus Palmensis) under different harvesting management in a tropical highland area of Ethiopia

Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis) is one of productive multipurpose tree species grown in the tropical highlands of Ethiopia. Despite its potential role as a source of forage and natural resource conservation, adequate studies were not made on agronomic practices such as establishment, harvesting managements and utilization. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of establishment and subsequent harvesting managements on biomass (BM) yield, crude protein (CP) content, botanical fractions of total biomass and persistency of tagasaste. Establishment of tagasaste was undertaken for three consecutive years at Holeta Research Center (HRC) in the highlands of Ethiopia. The two harvesting management trials, harvesting stage and growing season were arranged separately in a randomized complete block design with three replications. In harvesting stage study, four treatments of harvesting stage including HS1 (3 harvests per year at 4 months interval), HS2 (2 harvests per year at 6 months interval), HS3 (one harvest at 8 months and the 2nd harvest after 4 months) and HS4 (one harvest at 10 months and the 2nd harvest after 2 months) were compared annually. In the growing season study, tagasaste was allowed to regrow for 6 months so that exposed to the main rain, dry and short rainy seasons of the area. Planting and harvesting year had a significant (

Conference on International Agricultural Research for Development Study on the effects of incorporating various levels of cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) on the performance of sheep

Abstract Poor feed quality and lack of water are the major constraints for livestock production under arid conditions. To solve these problems, looking for potential plants is mandatory (0.008, 0.016 and 0.006 l, respectivel

White lupin (Lupinus albus L.), the neglected multipurpose crop: Its production and utilization in the mixed crop-livestock farming system of Ethiopia

A survey was conducted to generate holistic information on the production and utilization of local white lupin in two lupin growing districts, namely, Mecha and Sekela, representing mid and high altitude areas, respectively in North-western Ethiopia. During the survey, two types of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques, namely, individual farmer interview (61 farmers from Mecha and 51 from Sekela) and group discussion (with 20 farmers from each district) were employed. There are significant differences (P0.05) between the two study districts for the variables like land allocated for lupin cultivation, lupin seed rate, lupin soaking at home, lupin consumption per family per week and proportion of lupin used for household consumption. The use of the crop as livestock feed is negligible due to its high alkaloid content. It is concluded that the local white lupin in Ethiopia is a valuable multipurpose crop which is being cultivated in the midst of very serious shortage of cropland. Its ability to maintain soil fertility and serve as a source of food in seasons of food scarcity makes it an important crop. However, its bitter taste due to its high alkaloid content remains to be a big challenge and any lupin improvement strategy has to focus on minimizing the alkaloid content of the crop

Effect of pre-feeding forage treatments, harvesting stage, and animal type on preference of tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis)

Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis), a multipurpose fodder tree, is highly productive in the tropical highlands. The forage has high crude protein (CP) concentrations but is reported to have low intake by ruminants. This study investigated the effects of plant harvest stage and feeding management (wilted, dried and fresh) on levels of tannins in tagasaste and on preference and intake by Menz sheep and cattle fed during the dry season. The treatments were (1) fresh tagasaste, (2) wilted tagasaste, (3) dried tagasaste and (4) native hay. There were three preference experiments using sheep (20.2 ± 0.66 kg) to investigate intake under ad libitum or restricted offering of the forages, and to assess effect of harvest age (6- or 10-month regrowth age) on ad libitum intake. In two further experiments ad libitum offerings of the forages were evaluated using young steers (131.2 ± 19.6 kg) and heifers (156.3 ± 5.4 kg). The CP (201 g/kg), hydrolysable tannin (150.2 g/kg) and condensed tannin (8. 97abs measured as absorbance at 550 nm wavelength/g NDF) contents of tagasaste forage were not affected by the physical treatments and harvesting stage. When fed ad libitum, sheep preferred (P < 0.01) fresh forage to wilted or dry tagasaste (24.5 vs. 22.9 and 7.9 g dry matter (DM)/kg metabolic body weight (MBW). The restricted offering increased intake of the less preferred dried form. Regrowth age (6 vs.10 months) did not affect sheep preference. Unlike sheep, steers and heifers preferred (P < 0.01) dried tagasaste rather than the fresh or wilted forage. Animal preference and intake were affected by the preparation method of the forage, but not by regrowth age. Methods to improve intake (for cattle), effects of long-term feeding and evaluation on the subsequent effect of anti-nutritional compounds during digestion and animal performance should be further investigated

Substituição de milho por glicerina bruta em dietas para suínos em terminação

Avaliou-se o efeito da substituição do milho por glicerina bruta em dietas para suínos em terminação. Foram utilizados 80 suínos, machos castrados, híbrido comercial, com média de peso de 67kg, em um experimento em delineamento inteiramente ao acaso, com cinco tratamentos e oito repetições, com dois animais por unidade experimental. Os tratamentos foram: 0,0; 4,0; 8,0; 12,0 e 16,0% de glicerina bruta em substituição ao milho nas dietas. A substituição do milho por glicerina bruta não afetou as características de desempenho (P>0,05). Observaram-se efeito linear crescente de tratamento (P<0,05) sobre a espessura de toucinho na carcaça e efeito linear decrescente de tratamento (P<0,05) sobre a perda de líquido no descongelamento e na força de cisalhamento. A glicerina bruta pode substituir em até 16,0% do milho da dieta para suínos em terminação, sem prejuízos do desempenho e rendimento de carcaça, com melhoras na qualidade da carne

Glycerol from biodiesel production: the new corn for dairy cattle

Glycerol, also known as glycerin, is a colorless, odorless, hygroscopic, and sweet-tasting viscous liquid. It is a sugar alcohol with high solubility index in water and has a wide range of applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. The use of glycerol in diets for dairy cattle is not novel; however, this interest has been renewed due to the increased availability and favorable pricing of glycerol as a consequence of recent growth in the biofuels industry. Experimental evidence supports the use of glycerol as a transition cow therapy but feeding rates are low, ranging from 5 to 8 % of the diet DM. There is a paucity of research that examines the use of glycerol as a macro-ingredient in rations for lactating dairy cows. Most reports indicate a lack of effect of addition of glycerol to the diet when it replaces corn or corn starch. Recent feeding experiments with lactating dairy cows indicate replacing corn with glycerol to a level of 15% of the ration DM does not adversely effect milk production or composition. Milk production was 37.0, 36.9, 37.3, 36.4 ± 0.6 kg/d and feed intake was 24.0, 24.5, 24.6, 24.1 ± 0.5 kg/d for 0, 5, 10 and 15% glycerol treatments respectively and did not differ (P > 0.05) except for a modest reduction in feed intake during the first 7 days for the 15% glycerol treatment. Glycerol fed to dairy cattle is fermented to volatile fatty acids in the rumen and early reports indicated that glycerol is almost entirely fermented to propionate. In vitro data indicates glycerol fermentation increases the production of propionate and butyrate at the expense of acetate. Rumen microbes appear to adapt to glycerol feeding and consequently, cows fed glycerol also require an adaptation period to glycerol inclusion. Debate exists regarding the fate of glycerol in the rumen and although most reports suggest that glycerol is largely fermented in the rumen, the extent of rumen digestion may depend on level of inclusion in the diet. Data are lacking regarding the rates of rumen fermentation of glycerol at intake levels for high producing dairy cattle. Current data indicates that glycerol can be included in diets fed to dairy cattle at macro ingredient levels; however, additional information is needed to permit a full appreciation of the feeding value of glycerol and the resulting impact on cow health and productivity