Evaluation of saltgrass as a fodder crop for livestock

Abstract

Farmland salinization due to unsustainable agricultural practices has become a worldwide problem. Salt-resistant forage crops, introduced at the primary stages of land reclamation, can provide fodder for livestock, thus adding economic benefit to the process. Saltgrass (Distichlis spicata), a wild halophytic grass species distributed in salt marshes in America, is occasionally grazed by livestock and wild animals. In attempts to domesticate this species, we evaluated and ranked the fodder potential of groups of accessions from several sites in North and South America. Ash content never exceeded 110 g kg −1 , even when plants were grown with salty water. Crude protein content was variable and averaged 116 g kg −1 of DM. Mean yield of metabolizable energy was 6.30 and 5.61 kJ g −1 DM for sheep and goats, respectively. Organic matter digestibility (in vitro) was higher in sheep than in goats (506 g kg −1 and 478 g kg −1 , respectively) for all saltgrass accessions. Differences in quality parameters were usually larger within than among groups of accession when sorted according to country of origin or ecosystem. Accessions from the South Atlantic coast of North America and from South America were superior in several parameters. South Atlantic coast accessions were relatively vigorous and were productive under saline conditions, as indicated by their relative growth rate (RGR) in small-scale experiments. Six outstanding saltgrass accessions were chosen for further examination. The results of the present study indicate that saltgrass holds considerable promise for selection and suggest that efforts should continue to identify and characterize additional saltgrass ecotypes.

The potential of a salt-tolerant plant (Distichlis spicata cv. NyPa Forage) to treat effluent from inland saline aquaculture and provide livestock feed on salt-affected farmland

“…and in vivo DMD of 48.6 % (6.3 MJ kg -1 ) The indigestible material was mostly fibre with ADF of 35%. These values are similar to those of most salt-tolerant annual and perennial grasses (Thompson et al, 2002;Bustan et al, 2005;Norman et al, 2012). In comparison halophytic shrubs, such as saltbush, usually have similar low levels of digestibility but less fibre and greater levels of CP and salt (Norman et al 2010).…”

“…These values are equivalent to those contained by good quality conserved fodder, and assuming an equivalent voluntary food intake as grass hay, would be sufficient for maintenance of dry adult sheep or cattle, or moderate liveweight gain in growing animals (AFRC, 1993;Freer et al, 1997). Previous studies with Distichlis spicata have also found that good quality forage can be obtained from the plant (Bustan et al, 2005;Al-Shopery et al, 2010) There are a number of caveats to this conclusion, however. First, recent studies have shown that standard laboratory (in vitro) techniques for measuring DMD often overestimate in vivo DMD of salt-tolerant plants (Norman et al, 2010).…”

“…Distichlis spicata have also found that good quality forage can be obtained from the plant (Bustan et al, 2005; Al-Shopery et al, 2010) There are a number of caveats to this conclusion, however. First, recent studies have shown that standard laboratory (in vitro) techniques for measuring DMD often overestimate in vivo DMD of salt-tolerant plants (Norman et al, 2010).…”

NUTRITIONAL AND FUNCTIONAL CHARACTERIZATION OF WILD AND CULTIVATED Sarcocornia neei GROWN IN CHILE

“…Halophytes are plants that can grow in areas exposed to high salinity such as seawater-immersed areas (Flowers and Colmer, 2008). Some species of halophytes have been used as forage (Bustan et al, 2005), in phytoremediation (Manousaki and Kalogerakis, 2011), as a renewable energy source (Eganathan et al, 2006), as ornamental plants (Zia et al, 2008), and as gourmet vegetables (Ventura et al, 2011).…”

Goat Production and Fodder Leaves Offered by Local Villagers in the Mid-Hills of Nepal

“…Gas production (GP, ml/200 mg DM) and crude protein (CP, g/kg DM) were used to estimate organic matter digestibility (OMD) and in vitro metabolizable energy (IVME) yield as follows (Menke et al 1979;Menke and Steingass 1988 To rank tree fodders, we adopted the method described by Conklin et al (1991), as modified by Bustan et al (2005), using metabolizable energy (ME) yield and crude protein (CP) content as desirable traits and condensed tannins (CT) contents as undesirable traits. The mean value of each of these traits was subtracted from the value obtained by each fodder plant and the result was divided by the standard deviation (SD) of the mean to produce a specific parameter index.…”