Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T10:03:24.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tropical crop and crop by-product additives can improve the quality of taro leaf (Colocasia esculenta) silage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

A. J. Ash  and
R. Elliott
A. J. Ash
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, University of the South Pacific, Private Bag, Apia, Western Samoa
R. Elliott
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld. 4067, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The nutritive value of taro leaf (Colocasia esculenta) silage, with or without various crop or crop byproducts as additives, was evaluated in two experiments in Western Samoa in 1988 and 1989. In Experiment 1, laboratory silos were used to assess the quality of eight taro leaf silages which were either ensiled fresh or wilted overnight. Taro leaf ensiled alone was poorly preserved with a pH of 5·4 and high concentrations of ammonia-N and volatile fatty acids. In contrast, silages with crop byproduct additives rich in water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), mainly molasses, ripe banana or papaya pulp, were of high quality with pH levels of c. 4 and low concentrations of volatiles. Copra meal, although low in WSC, was able to produce a satisfactory silage when added to taro leaf through its ability to restrict fermentation.

Despite only a small increase (14·2%) in silage dry matter (DM) content, wilting of taro leaves resulted in silage of significantly higher quality than that made from fresh leaves. Most of the benefit of wilting was attributed to better fermentation conditions rather than a restricted fermentation.

Two of the better silages from Experiment 1, taro/molasses and taro/banana, were prepared on a larger scale in earth pits and fed to goats in a second experiment. Both silages were highly palatable and digestible; DM intakes of 47 and 63 g/kg W0·75 per day and organic matter digestibilities of 69·0 and 74·9% were recorded for the banana and molasses silages, respectively.

It was concluded that taro leaf is a suitable forage for ensilage, and when combined with additives rich in WSC, a forage of high nutritive value can be produced.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 117 , Issue 2 , October 1991 , pp. 233 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adebowale, E. A. (1983). The performance of West African dwarf goats and sheep fed silage and silage plus concentrate. World Review of Animal Production XIX, 15–20.Google Scholar
Ash, A. J. (1990). The effect of supplementation with leaves from the leguminous trees Sesbania grandiflora, Albizia chinensis and Gliricidia sepium on the intake and digestibility of guinea grass hay by goats. Animal Feed Science and Technology 28, 225–232.Google Scholar
Barker, S. B. & Summerson, W. H. (1941). The colorimetric determination of lactic acid in biological material. Journal of Biological Chemistry 137, 535–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, T. N. & Manley, T. R. (1984). The role of condensed tannins in the nutritional value of Lotus pedunculatus for sheep. 2. Quantitative digestion of carbohydrates and proteins. British Journal of Nutrition 51, 493–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradbury, J. H. & Holloway, W. D. (1988). Chemistry of Tropical Root Crops: Significance for Nutrition and Agriculture in the Pacific. Canberra: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.Google Scholar
Carpenter, J. R. & Steinke, W. E. (1981). Taro silage – its potential as an animal feed in the tropics. 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science, 26–29 July, 1981, p. 272. North Carolina State University.Google Scholar
Catchpoole, V. R. (1970). Laboratory ensilage of three tropical pasture legumes – Phaseolus atropurpureus, Desmodium intortum and Lotononis bainesii. Australian Journal of Experimen tal Agriculture and A nimal Husbandry 10, 568–576.Google Scholar
Catchpoole, V. R. & Henzell, E. F. (1971). Silage and silage-making from tropical herbage species. Herbage Abstracts 41, 213–221.Google Scholar
Dewar, W. A. & McDonald, P. (1961). Determination of dry matter in silage by distillation with toluene. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 12, 790–795.Google Scholar
Dubois, M., Gilles, K. A., Hamilton, J. K., Rebers, P. A. & Smith, F. (1956). Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Analytical Chemistry 28, 350–356.Google Scholar
Goering, H. K. & Van Soest, P. J. (1970). Forage Fibre Analysis. Agriculture Handbook No. 379. Bethesda, MD: Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.Google Scholar
Gohl, B. (1981). Tropical Feeds. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Haigh, P. M. & Parker, J. W. G. (1985). Effect of silage additives and wilting on silage fermentation, digestibility and intake, and on liveweight change of young cattle. Grass and Forage Science 40, 429–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, R. R., Balwani, T. L., Johnson, L. J., McClure, K. E. & Dehority, B. A. (1966). Corn plant maturity. II. Effect on in vitro cellulose digestibility and soluble carbohydrate content. Journal of Animal Science 25, 617–623.Google Scholar
McDonald, P. (1981). The Biochemistry of Silage. Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Mannetje, L.'T (1982). Problems of animal production from tropical pastures. In Nutritional Limits to Animal Production from Pastures (Ed. Hacker, J. B.), pp. 67–85. Farnham Royal, UK: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
NRC (1981). Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals. Nutrient Requirements of Goats. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Panditharatne, S., Allen, V. G., Fontenot, J. P. & Jayasuriya, M. C. N. (1986). Ensiling characteristics of tropical grasses as influenced by stage of growth, additives and chopping length. Journal of Animal Science 63, 197–207.Google Scholar
Steel, R. G. D. & Torrie, J. H. (1980). Principles and Procedures of Statistics. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Thomas, C. & Thomas, P. C. (1985). Factors affecting the nutritive value of grass silages. In Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition – 1985 (Eds Haresign, W. & Cole, D. J. A.), pp. 223–256. London: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Tjandraatmadja, M. (1989). The microbiology and nutritive value of tropical silages. Ph.D thesis, University of Queensland.Google Scholar
Wllkins, R. J., Hutchinson, K. J., Wilson, R. F. & Harris, C. E. (1971). The voluntary intake of silage by sheep. I. Interrelationships between silage composition and intake. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 11, 531–537.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, J. M. (1983). Silages made from tropical and temperate crops. Part 2. Techniques for improving the nutritive value of silage. World Animal Review 46, 35–40.Google Scholar