COMPARISON OF THE NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF DIFFERENT BRACHIARIA SPECIES

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study is a completely randomized design. The result revealed that feed resources that are of high quality and balanced nutrition are required for a sustainable and profitable livestock production in the whole world. However, these feeds are unavailable in good quality and quantity during the off season thus limiting livestock production in the tropics. The study evaluated the nutritive quality of different Brachiaria species (Brachiariadecumbens, B. ruziziensis, B. cobra) during rainy season. The Crude Protein content was (p<0.05) higher in Brachiaria cobra compared to the significantly lower value recorded for B.ruziziensis while there is no significant difference in thce Neutral Detergent Fibre for all the Brachiaria spp. The Metabolizable Energy value was significantly (p<0.005) higher in Brachiariaruziziensis compared to B. cobra. Brachiaria cobra had the highest crude protein and ash contents while Brachiariaruziziensis had the highest ME, with lower NDF, ADF, and ADL values than B. cobra and B. decumbens.