EFFECTS OF TREE LEGUME SEEDS ON SILAGE QUALITY OF Panicum maximum AT TWO STAGES OF MATURITY

Abstract

The present study evaluated the effects of tree legume seeds inclusion on the fermentation characteristics, chemical composition and in vitro gas production of Panicum maximum ensiled at two stages of maturity. The study was a 7 × 2 factorial arrangement consisting P. maximum at vegetative and reproductive stages ensiled with two tree seeds (Albizia saman and Moringa oleifera) at different proportions (100:0, 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75). The results showed significant (p<0.05) differences in all the parameters evaluated with P. maximum 75: M. oleifera 25 at reproductive stage having the highest value for lactic acid. The dry matter content of the silage increased as the proportions of the tree seeds increased. The CP contents of the silage ranged significantly (p<0.05) from 8.57 % in sole Panicum at the reproductive stage to 18.62% in P. maximum 25: A. saman 75 at the vegetative stage. The NDF contents which were below 70 % declined with higher proportions of the tree seeds. There was significant (p>0.05) increase in the volume of gas produced as the proportion of each seed increased in the silage at the two maturity stages. It can be concluded from this study that increasing levels of tree legume seeds in P. maximum at the two maturity stages had significant effect on the quality of the silage. This shows that silage made at the vegetative / reproductive stage of maturity of the grass and enriched with tree legume seeds would serve as an effective conservation strategy for dry season feeding.