Livestock production in the Eastern Oromia of Ethiopia depends mainly on natural pastures and crop residues which are poor in quality and quantity particularly during dry season. Therefore, it need introduction of alternative improved forages of high quality and quantity which are adapted to the areas. Thus, the activity was conducted at three districts of East Hararghe Zone located in midland agro ecology to identify and select the best Brachiaria grass accession/s for dry matter (DM) yield and nutritive quality for these areas. Four brachiaria Urochloa decumbens accessions (ILRI-10871, ILRI-13205, ILRI-14721 and ILRI-14720) and five brachiaria Urochloa ruziziensis accessions (ILRI-13332, ILRI-14743, ILRI-10871, ILRI-14774, LRI-14813) and one local check were evaluated. The accessions were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Tiller numbers, plant height, forage dry matter yield and plot covers were recorded at their respective recommended stages. The brachiaria accessions had significant (p<0.05) effect on plot cover, plant height, tiller number, dry matter yield and in nutritional contents. Based on the current result, higher herbage DM yield (17.83 t/ha) was recorded from Brachiaria Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14813 followed by Urochloa decumbens ILRI-14721 (16.57 t/ha), while lower herbage dry matter yield (7.27 t/ha) was received from Urochloa decumbens ILRI-1087. The chemical composition of the grass was also varied significantly among the tested brachiaria grass accessions. Accordingly, the highest neutral detergent fiber (NDF %) content was recorded by the local check while the highest acid detergent fiber (ADF %) content was obtained by Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14743 and Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14774. The concentration of crude protein (CP %) also varied significantly among the brachiaria grass accessions ranging from 10.49%-14.45%. The highest crude protein yield was recorded by U. decumbens ILRI-14721, U. decumbens ILRI-10871, U. ruziziensis ILRI-14743 and U. ruziziensis ILRI-14813 while the lowest was obtained by U. decumbens ILRI-13205. Generally, the grass accessions Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14813 and Urochloa decumbens ILRI-14721 were well adapted and productive in regarding to herbage yield and nutritional quality. Therefore, these grass accessions were hopeful to fill the gap of low quantity and quality of animal feed supply of the study area. Thus, these two grasses are recommended for the midland agro ecology of East Hararghe zone of Oromia and other areas with similar agro ecologies.
| Published in | American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry (Volume 10, Issue 5) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajaf.20221005.16 |
| Page(s) | 199-203 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Dry Matter Yield, Plant Height, Plot Cover, Tiller Numbers, Nutritional Quality
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APA Style
Tolera Fikadu, Wubshet Tesfaye, Melese Furgasa, Worku Bekuma, Fraol Legesse. (2022). Brachiaria Grass Herbage Yield Potential and Nutritional Quality at Midland Agro Ecology of East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia. American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry, 10(5), 199-203. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaf.20221005.16
ACS Style
Tolera Fikadu; Wubshet Tesfaye; Melese Furgasa; Worku Bekuma; Fraol Legesse. Brachiaria Grass Herbage Yield Potential and Nutritional Quality at Midland Agro Ecology of East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia. Am. J. Agric. For. 2022, 10(5), 199-203. doi: 10.11648/j.ajaf.20221005.16
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author = {Tolera Fikadu and Wubshet Tesfaye and Melese Furgasa and Worku Bekuma and Fraol Legesse},
title = {Brachiaria Grass Herbage Yield Potential and Nutritional Quality at Midland Agro Ecology of East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia},
journal = {American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry},
volume = {10},
number = {5},
pages = {199-203},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajaf.20221005.16},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaf.20221005.16},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajaf.20221005.16},
abstract = {Livestock production in the Eastern Oromia of Ethiopia depends mainly on natural pastures and crop residues which are poor in quality and quantity particularly during dry season. Therefore, it need introduction of alternative improved forages of high quality and quantity which are adapted to the areas. Thus, the activity was conducted at three districts of East Hararghe Zone located in midland agro ecology to identify and select the best Brachiaria grass accession/s for dry matter (DM) yield and nutritive quality for these areas. Four brachiaria Urochloa decumbens accessions (ILRI-10871, ILRI-13205, ILRI-14721 and ILRI-14720) and five brachiaria Urochloa ruziziensis accessions (ILRI-13332, ILRI-14743, ILRI-10871, ILRI-14774, LRI-14813) and one local check were evaluated. The accessions were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Tiller numbers, plant height, forage dry matter yield and plot covers were recorded at their respective recommended stages. The brachiaria accessions had significant (p<0.05) effect on plot cover, plant height, tiller number, dry matter yield and in nutritional contents. Based on the current result, higher herbage DM yield (17.83 t/ha) was recorded from Brachiaria Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14813 followed by Urochloa decumbens ILRI-14721 (16.57 t/ha), while lower herbage dry matter yield (7.27 t/ha) was received from Urochloa decumbens ILRI-1087. The chemical composition of the grass was also varied significantly among the tested brachiaria grass accessions. Accordingly, the highest neutral detergent fiber (NDF %) content was recorded by the local check while the highest acid detergent fiber (ADF %) content was obtained by Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14743 and Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14774. The concentration of crude protein (CP %) also varied significantly among the brachiaria grass accessions ranging from 10.49%-14.45%. The highest crude protein yield was recorded by U. decumbens ILRI-14721, U. decumbens ILRI-10871, U. ruziziensis ILRI-14743 and U. ruziziensis ILRI-14813 while the lowest was obtained by U. decumbens ILRI-13205. Generally, the grass accessions Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14813 and Urochloa decumbens ILRI-14721 were well adapted and productive in regarding to herbage yield and nutritional quality. Therefore, these grass accessions were hopeful to fill the gap of low quantity and quality of animal feed supply of the study area. Thus, these two grasses are recommended for the midland agro ecology of East Hararghe zone of Oromia and other areas with similar agro ecologies.},
year = {2022}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Brachiaria Grass Herbage Yield Potential and Nutritional Quality at Midland Agro Ecology of East Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia AU - Tolera Fikadu AU - Wubshet Tesfaye AU - Melese Furgasa AU - Worku Bekuma AU - Fraol Legesse Y1 - 2022/10/27 PY - 2022 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaf.20221005.16 DO - 10.11648/j.ajaf.20221005.16 T2 - American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry JF - American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry JO - American Journal of Agriculture and Forestry SP - 199 EP - 203 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8591 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajaf.20221005.16 AB - Livestock production in the Eastern Oromia of Ethiopia depends mainly on natural pastures and crop residues which are poor in quality and quantity particularly during dry season. Therefore, it need introduction of alternative improved forages of high quality and quantity which are adapted to the areas. Thus, the activity was conducted at three districts of East Hararghe Zone located in midland agro ecology to identify and select the best Brachiaria grass accession/s for dry matter (DM) yield and nutritive quality for these areas. Four brachiaria Urochloa decumbens accessions (ILRI-10871, ILRI-13205, ILRI-14721 and ILRI-14720) and five brachiaria Urochloa ruziziensis accessions (ILRI-13332, ILRI-14743, ILRI-10871, ILRI-14774, LRI-14813) and one local check were evaluated. The accessions were laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Tiller numbers, plant height, forage dry matter yield and plot covers were recorded at their respective recommended stages. The brachiaria accessions had significant (p<0.05) effect on plot cover, plant height, tiller number, dry matter yield and in nutritional contents. Based on the current result, higher herbage DM yield (17.83 t/ha) was recorded from Brachiaria Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14813 followed by Urochloa decumbens ILRI-14721 (16.57 t/ha), while lower herbage dry matter yield (7.27 t/ha) was received from Urochloa decumbens ILRI-1087. The chemical composition of the grass was also varied significantly among the tested brachiaria grass accessions. Accordingly, the highest neutral detergent fiber (NDF %) content was recorded by the local check while the highest acid detergent fiber (ADF %) content was obtained by Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14743 and Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14774. The concentration of crude protein (CP %) also varied significantly among the brachiaria grass accessions ranging from 10.49%-14.45%. The highest crude protein yield was recorded by U. decumbens ILRI-14721, U. decumbens ILRI-10871, U. ruziziensis ILRI-14743 and U. ruziziensis ILRI-14813 while the lowest was obtained by U. decumbens ILRI-13205. Generally, the grass accessions Urochloa ruziziensis ILRI-14813 and Urochloa decumbens ILRI-14721 were well adapted and productive in regarding to herbage yield and nutritional quality. Therefore, these grass accessions were hopeful to fill the gap of low quantity and quality of animal feed supply of the study area. Thus, these two grasses are recommended for the midland agro ecology of East Hararghe zone of Oromia and other areas with similar agro ecologies. VL - 10 IS - 5 ER -
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