Performance of Zebu Steers Grazing on Western Tanzania Native Forages Supplemented with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Leucaena Leucocephala</Emphasis> Leaf Meal |
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Authors: | C?D?K?Rubanza M?N?Shem R?Otsyina Email author" target="_blank">T?FujiharaEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratory of Animal Science, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University, 690-8504 Matsue-shi, Shimane, Japan;(2) Department of Animal Science and Production, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O Box 3004, Chuo Kikuu, Morogoro, Tanzania;(3) International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), ICRAF/ Tanzania Agroforestry Project, P.O Box 797, Shinyanga, Tanzania |
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Abstract: | Information is lacking on the potential of leguminous fodder trees such as Leucaena leucocephala as a feed resource to supplement the native forages in traditional grazing management systems in the tropics. Two studies
were conducted (1) to assess traditional fodder banks’ forage nutritive potential on animal production, and (2) to investigate
the effect of Leucaena leucocephala leaf meal (LLM) supplementation on growth of steers grazing standing hay basal forages in the dry season. The traditional
forages had low nutritive values indicated by low mean crude protein (CP) of 23 g kg−1 dry matter (DM), and high fibre contents of 717, 546 and 153 g kg−1 DM for neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL), respectively. The forages
were poorly degraded in sacco and had low metabolisable energy (ME) (4.2–4.6 MJ kg−1 DM). Mean washing losses A, slowly degradable DM fraction, B, potential degradability, (A+B) and mean 48 h DM degradability
(DMD) of grazing land forages were 70, 471, 541 and 326 g kg−1 DM, respectively. In the supplementation study, 16 growing steers (160.8±0.24 kg) were randomly allocated into four groups,
in a completely randomized design. Four LLM treatment diets (T1, T2, T3 and T4), with four levels: 0, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 kg
DM for control, low, medium and high LLM levels, respectively, were randomly allocated to the animals in the four groups for
70 days (d). LLM supplementation (p<0.05) improved mean weight gain from −0.30 to 0.26 kg steer−1 d−1, for T1 and T4, respectively. Steers on T4 gained (p<0.05) more weight compared to the animals in T1 and T2, though there was no (p>0.05) difference in weight gains between animals on T3 and T4 (0.14 vs. 0.26 kg steer−1 d−1, respectively). Standing hay basal forages alone could not sustain animal productivity during dry seasons unless corrected
for protein. Higher levels of LLM supplementation prevented weight losses and improved the performance of grazing steers,
a management practice thought appropriate to low income pastoralists in semiarid western Tanzania. |
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Keywords: | Biomass Fodder banks Fodder trees Nutritive value Silvopasture |
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