Use of dried cassava root to replace corn in supplementation of Holstein cows grazing and consuming spontaneously, apparent digestibility and energy metabolism

Abstract

The development of this experiment intended to evaluate the effect of replacing ground corn for dried and ground cassava roots with the levels of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% in the experimental supplements for lactating cows kept on tropical irrigated and fertilized pastures. Ten Holstein cows were divided into two 5x5 Latin squares, with an initial lactation average of 150 days, 22 kg/day of average milk production of lactation and approximate initial average body eight of 603 kg. The animals were kept in pasture constituted by elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum, SCHUM) cv Pioneer, associated with Tifton 85 grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis), irrigated and fertilized with 600 kg of nitrogen per hectare/year. No significant effects on the substitution of ground corn for dried and ground cassava roots in the concentrate (P>0.05) over the spontaneous consumption of the total diet, with estimated average of 20.61 kg/DM/animal/day, apparent digestibility of DM with estimated average of 59.60% and energy balance with estimated average of +6.36 Mcal day-1. The results of this study demonstrate that the cassava root can be used as an energy source of high nutritional value for supplementation of lactating cows grazing on tropical pastures, similar to corn results.

Keywords

• Carbohydrates; Grass; Consumption; Nutrition