THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF Brachiaria GRASS CULTIVARS AT KATUMANI DRYLAND RESEARCH STATION IN SOUTH EASTERN KENYA

Abstract

The study was conducted at Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, Katumani, Machakos to evaluate the herbage quality of Brachiaria grass cultivars in semi arid regions of Eastern Kenya. Brachiaria cultivars namely B. decumbens cv. Basilisk, Brachiaria hybrid Mulato II, four Brachiaria brizantha cultivars Marandu, Xaraes, Piata, MG4 and Brachiaria humidicola cv Llanero were assessed with reference to their chemical and nutritive composition at 22, 24 and 28 weeks post seedling emergence. Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana cv KATR3) and Napier grass (P. pupureum cv. Kakamega I) were included as controls. There were significant differences (p<0.05) among the cultivars for crude protein, crude fibre (NDF, ADF and ADL) Ash, Calcium, Phosphorus, Dry Matter Digestibilty and Metabolisable energy during the the week 22 and 24 post seedling emergence harvest. At week 28 harvest interval, however, ADL values for all the cultivars were similar and only Marandu was significantly different (p<0.05) in terms of metabolizable energy from the rest. The mean CP content of the grasses decreased from 11.1% at week 22 to 6.3% at harvest week 28 harvest intervals. MG4, Mulato II and Xaraes were the only grasses able to meet minimum CP (7.0%) requirement for rumen microbial function throughout the harvest period. Ash and phosphorus values decreased whereas Calcium content increased for all the cultivars during the harvest intervals, with Mulato II recording the highest ash (15%) content during this period. Chloris gayana KATR3 recorded highest average NDF (72.9%), ADF (48.1%) and ADL (6.1%) content during this period. Xaraes, Marandu and Mulato II were the only cultivars able to achieve the highest metabolizable energy of 7.0 MJ/kg DM recorded for the grass cultivars throughout the harvest intervals. These results indicate that Brachiaria grasses can be a good source of forage for livestock and a boost to the forage resource base in the semi arid regions of Kenya. Further research is needed to quantify their productivity in both dry and wet periods and to assess the effect of feeding on animal production performance.

Herbage accumulation and nutritive value of cultivar Mulato II, Congo grass, and Guinea grass cultivar C1 in a subhumid zone of West Africa

“…In semi‐arid areas of Kenya (rainfall around 750 mm), Nguku, Musimba, et al. (2016) reported herbage accumulation of 4 Mg DM ha −1 for Mulato II, 16 wk after planting. Other results obtained in Colombia under rainfed conditions reported herbage accumulation of Mulato II ranging from 3.3 to 3.1 Mg DM ha −1 in rainy and dry season, respectively.…”

“…It was tested in conservation agriculture systems in Madagascar; in integrated intercropping systems for controlling pests, weeds, and soil by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia; and for intercropping forages in dairy systems in Uganda and Madagascar (Maass et al., 2015). On‐station investigation in semi‐arid Kenya showed that Mulato II had greater herbage accumulation (HA) and nutritive value (NV) under certain conditions, as compared to other tested African perennial native grasses (Machogu, 2013; Nguku, Musimba, et al., 2016; Nguku, Njari, et al, 2016). Although pest and disease issues associated with Mulato II have been reported in some areas, this hybrid continues to raise interest among African farmers and may play a role in improving agricultural systems in Africa (Maass et al., 2015).…”

CUTTING FREQUENCY IN CAYMAN GRASS (Urochloa HYBRID) ON THE CALORIFIC POWER OF THE MEXICAN WET TROPIC

“…Values reported in other evaluations with grasses are similar to the present study, e.g., 7 % in U. brizantha (Santiago et al, 2016), 8.5 % in U. decumbens, 9.5 % in Chloris gayana, and 10.6 % in U. brizantha cv. Xaraés (Nguku et al, 2016). Inorganic material in pastures is variable in ash concentration among species; normally up to 12% or more can be found in herbaceous plants and agricultural residues in early stages of growth.…”

Morphological and yield performance of Brachiaria grass in response to NPS fertilizer and harvesting stage at Wondogenet, Ethiopia

“…All these characteristics would contribute to increased photosynthetic activity and hence higher DM production. The yield increment might be due to the additional tillers developed, which brought an increase in leaf formation, leaf elongation, and stem development [31,32] . The current analysis result was agreeing with the finding of [33][34][35] who reported the highest total DMT observed at the last harvesting stage on wild Brachiaria grasses in different countries.…”