Gas production and nutritive value of the whole plant and its components in four hybrids of maize

Abstract

Maize silage is by far the most popular forage in the Po plain, due to its very high DM yield (20-25 t/ha) and the high nutritive value (6.40 MJ NEl/kg DM, on av.) derived mainly from its starch content. Some studies were performed on the gas production (GP) of maize whole plant and its isolated NDF (Deaville and Givens, 2001; Calabrò et al., 2002). However, little is known about the relative feed value of the different plant fractions (Tolera and Sundstol, 1999). Moreover, genetic selection makes available hybrids with specific characteristics in terms of length of maturity, stay-green, grain yield, type of starch, etc. Therefore, it seemed interesting to evaluate the chemical composition and the rumen fermentation (measured as GP) of the whole plant (WP) and the various plant fractions in different commercial maize hybrids........

Keywords

• maize, gas production, nutritive value