Effect of days of maturity and fertilizer on composition and in-vitro digestibility of indigenous pasture in eastern highlands of Ethiopia
1994
Teshome Shenkoru (Alemaya University of Agriculture, Dire Dawa (Ethiopia)) | Beyene Chichaibelu | Reed, J.D.
The study was carried out on indigenous pasture grown on Entisol of the eastern highland of Ethiopia. The treatments were 30, 60 and 90 days of maturity and 0 and 73-30 N-P. kg ha-1. Samples of pastures were studied for their chemical composition, in-vitro digestibility and yield. Dry matter yield increased at 60 and 90 days of maturity for fertilized pasture and at 90 days for unfertilized pasture. In-vitro digestiblity for dry matter decreased at 90 days of maturity. Crude protein (CP) content of unfertilized pasture decreased while CP content declined at 60 and 90 days of maturity for the fertilized pasture. Fertilizer effect was evident on CP content at 30 days of growth. Natural detergent fiber was significantly high at 90 days for both fertilized and unfertilized pasture. Lignin increased at 90 days of maturity for unfertilized pasture and no variation was observed among days of maturity for the fertilized pasture. Potassium remained consistent with stage of maturity for unfertilized pasture. Fertilization significantly increased K content of 30 and 60 days cut pasture and it decreased the K level at 90 days of maturity. Phosphorus content of pasture remained constant at 30 and 60 days and decreased at 90 days of maturity. Fertilization decreased the silica content of pasture, and remained consistent during the growth period. Stage of maturity and fertilization had no effect on the content of Ca, Mg and Na.
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