The nutritive value of forage sorghum genotypes developed for the dry tropical highlands of Kenya as feed source for ruminants

Abstract

In vitro studies were conducted on five sorghum genotypes developed for the dry tropical highland climate of Kenya and which can be fed to ruminants fresh or as silage. The five sorghum genotypes consisted of two normal white mid-rib (WMR) genotypes, coded E1291 and E6518l, and three brown-midrib (BMR) genotypes, coded Lan-5, Lan-6 and Lan-12. Whole mature plants (herbage plus grain) and silage made from E1291 were used in the study. An in vitro manual gas production technique was used to compare the nutritive characteristics of these genotypes for ruminants. These sorghums differed significantly in true organic matter degraded (OMDeg), which ranged from 520 to 678 g/kg after 24 h incubation and 706 to 805 g/kg after 72 h incubation. All the BMR sorghums had a higher degradability than the WMR genotype, E6518, and the silage, with Lan-5 having the highest degradability. Methane produced per g OMDeg ranged from 40.6 to 46.4 mL/g after 24 h incubation and from 53.1 to 62.6 mL/g after 72 h incubation. It was similar for all genotypes after 24 h incubation but Lan-12 had the highest methane production after 72 h incubation. After 24 h and 72 h incubation all the genotypes produced a similar total amount of gas per OMDeg (293 to 309 and 357 to 385 mL/g, respectively) with similar total short chain fatty acid concentrations in the liquid digesta (7.8 to 10.4 and 9.5 to 10.3 mmol, respectively) and acetate to propionate ratios of 2.16 to 2.49 and 2.35 to 2.87, respectively. The sorghums showed great potential as ruminant feed sources in the region.

Evaluasi Pertumbuhan dan Produktivitas Sorgum Mutan Brown Midrib (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) Fase Pertumbuhan Berbeda sebagai Pakan Hijauan pada Musim Kemarau di Tanah Ultisol

“…Sorgum mutan BMR memiliki kandungan lignin lebih rendah dan kecernaannya lebih tinggi dibanding sorgum konvensional, sehingga ideal sebagai pakan hijauan. Varietas BMR merupakan varietas mutan yang sangat terkenal di dunia dan secara khusus telah dikembangkan sebagai tanaman pakan ternak (Ouda et al, 2005). Diprediksi 80-85% tanaman yang akan dijadikan sebagai hijauan pakan di dunia adalah varietas BMR (Miller dan Stroup, 2003).…”

The Effect of Sorghum Varieties (<i>Sorghum </i><i>Bicolor</i> (L.) Moench) and Protein Levels on Chemical Composition and <i>In </i><i>Vitro</i> Digestibility of Fermented Complete Feed

“…BMR mutant sorghum has a lower lignin content and higher digestibility than conventional sorghum, making it ideal as a forage feed. BMR varieties are mutants that are very well known in the world and have been specifically developed as fodder plants [6].…”

Growth and Productivity of Brown Midrib Sorghum Mutant Line Patir 3.7 (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) Treated with Different Levels of Nitrogen Fertilizer

“…One new type of sweet sorghum that has been developed to have a lower lignin content and hence has higher digestibility is brown midrib sorghum (BMR). Developed by an induced mutation using gamma-ray irradiation, this variety has been specifically developed as an animal feed and become widely used globally (Ouda et al, 2005). Patir 3.7 is one of BMR mutant-sorghum lines developed in Indonesia which produces a large amount of dry matter which can be increased further with a good and optimal fertilizer (Sriagtula et al, 2016).…”