Evaluation of Stylosanthes scabra Accessions as Forage Source for Ruminants: Growth Performance, Nutritive Value and In Vitro Ruminal Fermentation

Abstract

Feed shortage is the main cause of poor production performance in livestock under smallholder farmer’s in South Africa. Therefore, this study evaluated the growth performance, nutritive value and in vitro ruminal fermentation of Stylosanthes scabra accessions in climatic condition of Pretoria, South Africa as potential forage sources in order to improve feed quality and subsequently livestock production. Stylosanthes scabra accessions were planted in 6 m2 plots following a complete randomized block design with three replicates per accession. The plants were allowed to grow to full maturity after which forage was harvested and yield, chemical composition, phenolic compounds, in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and in vitro ruminal fermentation characteristic were determined. Forage yield of accessions ranged between 4.3 to 5.3 t ha−1 in dry matter (DM), and only twelve accessions were identified to be adaptable over the three-year evaluation under rain-fed. Accessions 140, 9281, 11,252, 11,595, 11,604 and 11,625 were consistent in terms of forage yield over the three years Significant differences among accessions were observed for crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), IVOMD, metabolizable energy, metabolizable energy yield, gas production, total phenols, total hydrolysable tannins and total condensed tannins. Principal component and clustering analysis showed that accessions 11,255 and 11,625 are distinct in their characteristics as compared to the rest of the accessions, and both accessions are suitable forage source for animals since they contain low NDF with good forage production and crude protein content. However, there is a need for further study to integrate these accessions into the feeding systems in order to improve livestock production.

A Combination of Novel Microecological Agents and Molasses Role in Digestibility and Fermentation of Rice Straw by Facilitating the Ruminal Microbial Colonization

“…The improved degradability of rice straw after MA or MA+M pretreatment is due to the destruction of the cell wall structure of rice straw and the improvement of enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency. These findings suggest that the rice straw pretreated by MA or MA + M could provide more nutrients that can be absorbed and utilized by ruminants (Hymes-Fecht and Casper, 2021 ) and also imply a positive impact on animal performance (Mpanza et al, 2020 ). A previous study has also shown that the L. plantrum additives can improve in vitro degradation of elephant grass (Shah et al, 2021 ), and the IVDMD and IVNDFD increased by 13.97 and 32.69%, respectively.…”

Effects of <i>Stylosanthes scabra</i> Forage Supplementation on <i>in Vitro</i> Gas Production and Fiber Degradation of <i>Eragrostis</i> Grass Hay

“…This study was conducted at the University of Pretoria in the Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences located at 25˚44'30''S, 28˚15'30''. Details on climate condition of the study area are described on our previous study [34]. The substrates that were used for the experiment were Eragrostis grass hay (hereafter referred as grass hay), five (9281, 11,252, 11,255, 11,595 and 11,604) accessions of Stylosanthes scabra forages.…”

“…The substrates that were used for the experiment were Eragrostis grass hay (hereafter referred as grass hay), five (9281, 11,252, 11,255, 11,595 and 11,604) accessions of Stylosanthes scabra forages. The numbers assign to each accessions are according to International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Ethiopia who donated the seeds that were evaluation for adaptation [34]. Forages of Stylosanthes scabra accessions that were used in this study were produced during the evaluation study conducted in Pretoria [34].…”

“…Shrubby stylo is a drought tolerant, hence it can survive semi-arid regions [36] [37]. Various accessions of Stylosanthes scabra were evaluated for adaptation in subtropical climate of Pretoria, South Africa under rain-fed condition and their biomass yield ranged from 3.5 to 5.6 t/ha DM over three years [34]. Forage of the adapted accessions was reported to contain more than 17% of crude protein with an insignificant level of tannins when grown in Pretoria, hence they can be utilised as supplementary forage [34].…”

“…Various accessions of Stylosanthes scabra were evaluated for adaptation in subtropical climate of Pretoria, South Africa under rain-fed condition and their biomass yield ranged from 3.5 to 5.6 t/ha DM over three years [34]. Forage of the adapted accessions was reported to contain more than 17% of crude protein with an insignificant level of tannins when grown in Pretoria, hence they can be utilised as supplementary forage [34]. Therefore, an in vitro study was conducted in order to evaluate the effects of Stylosanthes scabra forage on improving low-quality grass hay ruminal fermentation.…”