Nutritional value of pastoral species indigenous to Eastern Moroccan rangelands

Abstract

In Eastern Morocco, rangelands constitute an important feed resource for livestock. Therefore, determining the nutritional value of pastoral species is useful for efficient and sustainable management of these arid areas. This study aims to determine the chemical composition and nutritional value of 20 native pastoral species collected from different localities of Eastern Morocco. Nutritional composition of species was estimated by determining levels of dry matter, mineral matter, organic matter, total nitrogenous matter, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber and lignin detergent fiber. Results show that there were a highly significant differences among the species for all chemical compositions (P<0.001). Asphodelus fistulosus, Peganum harmala, Suaeda vera, Atriplex halimus, Anabasis aphylla and Atriplex semibaccata, were highly nutritious, containing high concentrations of total nitrogen matter (9.87 to 25.49% DM), digestible organic matter (up to 69.92 gr /kg DM), high energy value (up to 0.83 UF/Kg DM) and low lignin (2.80 to 9.50 % DM) and crude cellulose contents (7.70 to 19.19% DM). In contrast, Stipa tenacissima, Launaea arborescens, Deverra scoparia, Salsola tetragona and Lygeum spartum are less nutritious and show the lowest total nitrogen matter content (3.80 to 6.73% DM) and relatively high crude cellulose content (36.57 to 44.33 % DM). This study reveals that indigenous species could offer considerable potential as a fodder resource for livestock and constitute an alternative for the diversification of the introduced pastoral species in these degraded rangeland areas.

Keywords

• espèces pastorales
• parcours
• valeur nutritive
• biodiversité
• maroc oriental