Sugarcane Varieties for Animal Feeding in the Pre-Amazon Region of Brazil

Abstract

The expansion of agricultural frontiers in Brazil has resulted in the growth of ruminant production in the Pre-Amazon Region. However, this production is favored mainly in the rainy season, due to the greater supply of pasture for the animals. This fact limits the maintenance of production due to the lack of quality forage for the animals throughout the year. This work aimed to evaluate the nutritional value of the different sugarcane varieties for animal feeding during four crop cycles. In this experiment, the varieties RB 92579, RB 867515 and RB 863129 were studied for cane plant, first, second and third ratoons. The experiment was divided in four stages according to each cycle, and each cycle lasted approximately 10 to 11 months. For the productivity analysis and other parameters samples were collected at the end of each experimental cycle, when the dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), Brix, NDF/Brix and produtctivity were determined. The RB 92579 variety showed higher productivity (P < 0.05) in all the studied cycles, and remained above the national productivity average in all the cycles (±75 ton ha-1). This same variety, presented the best results for all nutricional parameters (DM, CP, NDF, ADF and FDN/Brix) when compared to the other varieties. The productivity/nutritional relation value must be taken into account when choosing a variety for animal feeding, being the RB 92579 variety the most expressive, during four cycles, wich lasted 4 years.