Change in dry matter and nutritive composition of Brachiaria humidicola grown in Ban Thon soil series

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine the change in dry matter and nutritive composition of Humidicola grass (Brachiaria humidicola) grown in Ban Thon soil series (infertility soil) as a function of growth age. One rai (0.16 ha) of two-year-old pasture of fertilised Humidicola grass was uniformly cut and the regrowth samples were collected every twenty days. The samples were subjected to analysis for dry matter content and nutritive composition, i.e. crude protein, ash, calcium, phosphorus, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, and acid detergent lignin. The results showed that while the yields of available forage and leaves increased curvilinearly (quadratic, p<0.05), the stem yield increased linearly (p<0.05) over sampling dates. The highest biomass accumulation rate was numerically observed between 40-60 days of regrowth. The concentrations of crude protein, ash, calcium and phosphorus decreased curvilinearly (quadratic, p<0.05) with advancing maturity and reached the lowest flat after 60 days of regrowth. The cell wall components, i.e. NDF, ADF and ADL, increased over the experimental period and reached the highest plateau at 40 days of regrowth. It was concluded that Humidicola grass should be grazed or preserved at the regrowth age of not over 60 days to maximise the utilisation of the grass.

Keywords

• Brachiaria humidicola
• Ban Thon soil series
• animal nutrition