EFFECT OF MIXING LOW PALATABLE GRASSES AND IPIL IPIL LEAVES ON FORAGE QUALITY
Maimoona Bashir*, Imtiaz Ahmad Qamar*, Muhammad Fateh Ullah Khan* and Abdul Razzaq*
ABSTRACT
The study was conducted at the National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan to investigate the impact of mixing low palatable grasses namely Heteropogon contortus, Desmostachya bipinnata, Sorghum halepense and Chrysopogon aucheri with tree leaves of Leucaena leucocephala (Ipil ipil) in the ratio of 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, along with sole species on their chemical composition. Samples were analyzed for proximate parameters (crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), total ash and ether extract (EE)). The results revealed that there were significant differences in dry matter (DM) among different grasses. DM content of low palatable grasses was generally high (70-75%) as compared to Ipil ipil leaves (45-55%). DM content among mixtures was also variable. For the treatment grass 75% + Ipil ipil 25%, DM range was 65-70%, for grass 50% + Ipil ipil 50%, it was 60-65% and for grass 25% + Ipil ipil 75%, it was 55%. The CP value of the treatments showed significant variation ranging from less than 10% in grasses to almost 30% in pure Ipil ipil leaves. The mixtures had CP content corresponding to proportions of grasses and legume tree leaves. The CF values also varied significantly among the treatments. Grasses had in general higher CF content than legume leaves. It can be concluded that addition of Ipil ipil leaves to grasses improved overall nutrition especially CP of the feed.
To share on other social networks, click on any share button. What are these?
