Abstract:
Natural grasslands which supply the bulk of ruminant feeds are characterised by low yield and lignified forage. Sown grasses interplanted with legumes yield fodder with better quality compared to forage harvested from the wild. However, there is limited information on the effect of interplanting high yielding grass varieties with legumes on Biomass Yield (BY) and nutritional quality. Therefore, effect of interplanting Chloris gayana (Chloris), Panicum maximum (Panicum), Brachiaria ruziziensis (Brachiaria) and Brachiaria mulato II (Mulato) with Lablab purpureus (Lablab) on BY and feeding value of their silages in West African Dwarf (WAD) goats were investigated.
In a split-plot arrangement, Chloris, Panicum, Brachiaria and Mulato were planted sole and interplanted with Lablab in a randomised complete block design. At 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks post planting, BY (t/ha), Leaf to Stem Ratio (LSR), Leaf Length (LL, cm), Dry Matter (DM, %) and Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF, %) of these grasses were determined using standard procedures. Twelve-week old Chloris, Panicum, Brachiaria and Mulato were ensiled with Lablab at 3:1 for 21 days and the silage colour, aroma and pH were measured. The silages were fed to WAD goats (n=20, weighing 8.82±0.10 kg) for 105 days and Percentage Preference (PP), Dry Matter Intake (DMI, g/d) and Total Weight Gain (TWG, kg) were measured. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at α0.05.
Interplanting of the grasses with Lablab significantly increased BY from 5.36±3.04 to 6.85±2.64 (Chloris), 16.64±8.93 to 17.76±9.37 (Panicum), 7.15±3.49 to 8.36±3.72 (Brachiaria) and 15.41±9.10 to 17.19±8.01 (Mulato), respectively. The LSR of Lablab interplanted with grasses 0.73±0.31 (Chloris), 1.23±0.70 (Panicum), 1.31±0.24 (Brachiaria) and 1.19±0.03 (Mulato) were significantly higher than their sole sown (0.64±0.33, 1.14±0.61, 1.24±0.27 and 1.09±0.39, respectively). Grasses interplanted with Lablab showed an increase in LL from 69.33±3.18 to 81.11±4.59 (Chloris), 116.22±34.05 to 124.86±35.90 (Panicum), 49.29±10.27 to 57.34±10.11 (Brachiaria) and 74.59±9.14 to 84.79±11.34 (Mulato), respectively. The DM of Lablab interplanted grasses 37.77±4.82 (Chloris), 35.78±3.92 (Panicum), 44.33±4.71 (Brachiaria) and 39.68±6.09 (Mulato) was significantly higher than their sole sown (35.59±4.52, 33.66±4.46, 40.34±4.04 and 36.02±4.28, respectively). Lower NDF of 62.29±1.41, 63.07±1.52, 61.48±1.61 and 61.01±1.26 were observed in Lablab interplanted with Chloris, Panicum, Brachiaria and Mulato, respectively compared to 63.62±3.22, 64.04±2.73, 62.98±3.26 and 62.90±2.53 in sole sown. The BY, LL, DM and NDF increased, while LSR reduced with age. All the grasses produced good silages with olive green colour, aromatic smell and pH ranging from 4.26 to 4.55. The PP of WAD goats ranked Mulato-Lablab (25.44%) > Brachiaria-Lablab (25.25%) > Panicum-Lablab (24.95%) > Chloris-Lablab (24.35%). The DMI was similar for all treatments but TWG of 3.20±10.01 (Mulato-Lablab) was significantly higher than others, however, 3.01±6.98 (Brachiaria-Lablab) and 2.92±5.02 (Panicum-Lablab) were similar.
Interplanting Lablab purpureus with Chloris gayana, Panicum maximum, Brachiaria ruziziensis and Brachiaria mulato II enhanced biomass yield. Silage produced with combination of the interplanted Lablab purpureus and the grasses improved body weight gain of West African Dwarf goats.
