Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Fermentation characteristics, nutrient composition and in vitro ruminal degradability of whole crop wheat and wheat straw silage cultivated at dried paddy field

Author(s):

Yusuke Ishizaki ¹, Makoto Kondo ¹*, Md Uddin Kamal ¹, Yuta Isowa ¹, Hiroki Matsui ¹, Shuichi Karita ², Masakazu Goto ¹

Recieved Date: 2012-10-14, Accepted Date: 2013-01-20

Abstract:

Wheat cropping is a characteristic point of double cropping system following rice cropping in Japan. Feed evaluation of forage wheat is important for dairy production based on the domestic feed resources. The objective of the present study was to determine the preservation and nutritive characteristics of whole crop wheat silage (WCWS) and wheat straw silage (WSS) cultivated in a drained paddy field of local farms. Whole crop wheat harvested at the dough to yellow ripe stages and wheat straw were ensiled in round-bales and stored for 2 to 12 months. Twenty five round-bales of WCWS and 10 round-bales of WSS were investigated in this study. Both WCWS and WSS were made at farmers fields in 4 different sites. The WCWS was well preserved and averaged of pH 4.46, and concentrations of lactate, acetate and butyrate were 19.2, 10.4 and 4.7 g kg^-1 on a dry matter (DM) basis, respectively. The mean pH of WSS was 5.46 and it contained lower acids (1.9, 2.2 and 1.0 g kg^-1 DM of lactate, acetate and butyrate, respectively), indicating suppressed fermentation due to high DM content. The WCWS had crude protein of 78 g kg^-1 DM and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of 546 g kg^-1 DM, and non-fiber carbohydrate (NFC) of 306 g kg^-1 DM on average. There was a higher variation in the CP and NFC contents but relatively less variation in the NDF content among the WCWS samples (variance coefficient 22.0, 12.8 and 6.1%, respectively), which as attributed to the difference in the maturity of grain. The WSS had NDF content of 775 g kg^-1 DM, mostly cellulose (415 g kg^-1 DM). The in vitro organic matter degradability (IVOMD) of WCWS and WSS were 56.1 and 29.3%, respectively. The IVOMD of WCWS was not significantly correlated with pH and lactate and acetate content, but slightly correlated with butyrate content and NH₃-N ratio. The higher coefficient of variation for in vitro gas production at the initial stages of ruminal incubation of WCWS was associated with the observation of higher coefficient of variation for NFC content as compared to those of fiber fractions such as NDF and ADF. In conclusion, winter cropping of wheat plant at the post-rice cropping can supply fermentable energy in rumen as whole crop silage, and wheat straw also can be useful as fibrous material by ensiling.

Keywords:

Whole crop wheat silage, wheat straw silage, drained paddy field, in vitro rumen degradability

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 1
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 664-668

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