Large areas of arid and semi-arid grasslands in Mexico are severely damaged. Large areas of high-risk rainfed crops have been abandoned. These problems are the result of constant overgrazing, extraction of firewood, overutilization of valuable species, fire and the practice of subsistence agriculture. The aim of this study was to measure the initial performance of the seedlings, as well as forage production and survival in the second year of nine Bouteloua curtipendula populations native to Mexico in comparison with El Reno, a commercial variety from the US. Plant development was visually estimated and dry matter (DM) production was estimated one year after the establishment. Survival was assessed at the end of the growing season in the following year. The experiment was carried out using a complet randomized blocks experimental design, and differences in vigor between genotypes were analyzed by a permutation test. Significant differences in DM production and plant establishment (P ≤ 0.05) were observed between genotypes. The US commercial variety was the least productive population, exhibiting less vigor during the first year than the rest of the genotypes evaluated. Large diversity in seedling establishment capacity, DM yield and survival was observed in the second year. The Mexican populations 241, NdeM-303, 47 and NdeM-5 were superior for plant establishment and DM production.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the inclusion of water hyacinth (WH) as a possible substitution of alfalfa hay (AH) in diets of beef cattle on in vitro methane production, gas kinetics and chemical composition. AH in the diets was substituted by WH at 0% (T1, as a control), 25% (T2), 50% (T3), 75% (T4) and 100% (T5). Methane, CO2 and gas production parameters were recorded after 24 and 48h of incubation. NDF, condensed tannins and total phenolic compounds increased when AH was substituted. Likewise, the net gas production decreased linearly when AH was substituted. However, gas production rate among treatments were similar. Methane and CO2 production decreased linearly with inclusion of WH. These results indicate that WH arises as a promising alternative for mitigating methane production in ruminants.
This study assessed the effect of inclusion of a yeast probiotic on the counts of lactobacilli, total aerobes (TA), total coliforms (TC), E. coli and Salmonella in the composting of laying hen manure. The yeast probiotic concentration (0, 7.5 and 15% wet basis) in the composting effect was defined as factor A and the fermentation time (FT) (0, 7 and 23 days) was defined as factor B. A completely randomised design with a factorial arrangement of 3 Â 3 and four replicates was used. An interaction was found in Salmonella and pH (p < .0001). The lowest (p < .05) Salmonella counts were obtained at day 7 in the treatments with 7.5% and 15%, respect to the control. The lowest values (p < .05) for pH were obtained at day 23 in the treatments containing 0 and 15%. Lactobacilli, E. coli, TC, whereas TA counts were affected only by fermentation time (p < .05). In all treatments, lactobacilli increased (p < .05) by day 7. E. coli and TC counts decreased (p < .05) across the fermentation time and TA remained constant for the first seven days. (p < .05). Anaerobic fermentation of poultry litter over 23 days is sufficient to lower the pH and eliminate pathogenic microorganisms.
ARTICLE HISTORY
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.