Comparative evaluation of sorghum and pearl millet forage silages with maize Vinutha K.S.*, Khan A.A.1, Ravi D.1, Prasad K.V.S.V.1, Reddy Y. Ramana1, Jones C.S.2, Blummel M.1 International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru-502324, India 1International Livestock Research Institute, Patancheru-502324, India 2International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya, 00100 *Corresponding author: k.vinutha@cgiar.org
Online published on 16 September, 2021. Abstract Seven sorghum (CSH 20 MF, CSH 24 MF, GK 909, GK 917, HC 308, SPSSV-30 and SSG Priya Hybrid 5000) and five pearl millet (ICMA 00444 x IP 6202, Milkon, PAC 931, Poshan, and AVKB 19) cultivars were compared with a forage maize (P 3546) reference using laboratory and in vivo analyses. The forages were harvested at 76 days from sowing, wilted, chopped, and ensiled in plastic drums, compacted without additives, and hermetically sealed for 94 days. When fed to growing Nellore ram lambs, cultivar-dependent variations for organic matter digestibility (OMD), organic matter intake (OMI), and nitrogen (N) balance were observed among the silages. The OMI of pearl millet silages was only about two thirds that of sorghum silages (311 vs. 464 g/d). However, the digestibility of pearl millet was higher than sorghum silages (62.2 vs. 60.8%) although not significant and the nitrogen balance of sorghum silage was 4.8 times that of pearl millet (3.0 vs. 0.6 g/d). Of the seven sorghum forages, GK 909, GK 917, and SPSSV 30 had similar fodder quality to the forage maize. None of the pearl millet forages had fodder quality traits comparable to that of the maize forage. Except for N, across the silages the laboratory fodder quality investigated, NDF and ADF, ADL, dhurrin, and in vitro OMD (IVOMD) and ME were all unsatisfactory. None of the pearl millet forages had fodder quality traits comparable to maize or sorghum yet had generally favorable laboratory fodder quality traits but showed poor in vivo performance. Fodder quality factors seem to be at work that is not captured by routine laboratory fodder traits analyzed such as N, NDF, AF, ADL, IVOMD, and ME. Dhurrin was only recovered in significant amounts in pre-ensiled sorghum, not maize and pearl millet, but post ensiling sorghum cultivars had no dhurrin. Top Keywords Digestibility, Forage, Pearl millet, Silage, Sorghum. Top |