Morphology and forage quality in buffel, rhodes, and blue grama grasses in Valle del Mezquital

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the production and quality of buffel (Pennisetum ciliare), rhodes (Chloris gayana), and blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) forage with three defoliation dates —at 50, 80, and 110 days after regrowth (dar)— in Valle del Mezquital. Crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), total digestible nutrients (TDN), relative feed value (RFV), and metabolizable energy (ME) were determined. A completely randomized design with three repetitions, a Tukey test for mean separation (α 0.05), and SAS Proc GLM for data analysis were used. The highest forage production occurs in the rhodes forage at 110 dar (12,936 kg DM ha-1). The highest CP (10.6%) was found in the buffel forage at 50 dar; in the rhodes forage, both values (80 and 110) were lower than 7%. The highest RFV was obtained by exotic grasses; however, higher TDN was recorded for the blue grama grass. Rhodes grass obtained the lowest ME at 80 dar (1.76), while the highest ME was obtained by buffel at 50 dar (1.91). The three varieties can be defoliated when the plants show intermediate yield and nutritional value, i.e., 80 days after the regrowth begins; nevertheless, buffel and rhodes should be defoliated at 50 dar.

Effects of leaf and stem maturation on nutritional value in Megathyrsus maximus

“…Thus, supportive tissues exhibited a greater extent of lignification than the mesophyll parenchymatous tissues. Similar conclusions were observed by Wang et al 43 and Velázquez-Martínez et al 46 In tropical environments, the lower nutritional value of forage at a given stage of maturity is mainly attributed to a relatively low leaf-to-stem ratio and rapid rates of maturation. 47 In young M. maximus genotypes, Stabile et al 48 found dry matter and fiber digestibility of stems was higher than that of leaves but decreased rapidly with advancing maturity.…”

Production of corn plus sunflower forage and its preference as silaged by sheep in Mineral de la Reforma, Hidalgo

“…However, soluble protein was higher in 90% corn  10% sunflower (P0.01), which matched a higher score in the production of volatile fatty acids. We can therefore assume that microorganisms make better use of forage protein for multiplication, which results in a higher production of metabolic protein and volatile fatty acids (Velázquez-Martínez et al, 2022). In this regard, Okoruwa and Igene (2014) mention that a higher digestibility of neuter detergent fiber (NDF) in rumen results in a higher production of volatile fatty acids in the following order: acetate, propionate, and butyrate.…”

“…When describing ewes' selection of forage material, Anderson et al (2010) mention that ewes prefer forage with higher protein contents, low fiber carbohydrate levels, and a high fodder value. Therefore, we must keep in mind that, as plants get older, grass quality decreases due to lignin aggregation (Velázquez-Martínez et al, 2022). The organic matter digestibility of sunflower decreases with physiological maturity, as a consequence of a higher lignin content, as well as of high oil contents, which affect the metabolism of ruminal microbiota (Fassio et al, 2001).…”