TY  - JOUR
T1  - Use of Legume in the Improvement of Silage Quality of Columbus Grass <I>(Sorghum almum </I>Parodi)
AU - , I.R. Muhammad AU - , M. Baba AU - , A. Mustapha AU - , M.Y. Ahmad AU - , L.S. Abdurrahman 
JO  - Research Journal of Animal Sciences
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
SP  - 109
EP  - 112
PY  - 2008
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1993-5269
DO  - rjnasci.2008.109.112
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=rjnasci.2008.109.112
KW  - Grass-legume silage
KW  -proximate composition
KW  -Semi arid zone
KW  -Columbus grass (Sorghum almum)
KW  -Centurion (Centrocema pascourum)
KW  -Lablab bean (Lablab purpureum) and Groundnut (Arachis hypogea)
AB  - An experiment was conducted to determine the species of legume that is compatible with Columbus<I> </I>grass<I> </I>for ensilage and to establish the optimum proportion of legume inclusion for better silage preparation. Field grown Columbus grass (<I>Sorghum almum</I> Parodi) was sampled at soft dough stage and fortified with legumes forage from Centurion (<I>Centrocema pascourum L.</I>); Lablab bean (<I>Lablab purpureum </I>(<I>L.</I>) and Groundnut (<I>Arachis hypogea L</I>). The treatments were 100% Columbus grass<I>;</I> 80% Columbus grass<I> </I>plus 20% groundnut; 60% Columbus grass<I> </I>plus 40% groundnut; 80% Columbus grass<I> </I>plus 20% Lablab; 60% Columbus grass<I> </I>plus 40% Lablab; 80% Columbus grass<I> </I>plus 20% Centurion and 60% Columbus grass<I> </I>plus 40% Centurion. Each of the treatment combination was ensilage using <I>in vitro </I>silos, kept at room temperature of 26°C for 21days incubation period. Thereafter, pH and proximate composition were examined. The results obtained showed the compounded silages were good and moderately acidic with pH varying from 5.33-5.77. Higher acidic value was obtained from silage prepared of 60% Columbus grass plus 40% groundnut<I>. </I>Dry matter as fed varied significantly (p&lt;0.05) from 308.0-508.0 g kg <SUP>1</SUP> succulent silage. Significantly higher (p&lt;0.05) dry matter as fed was observed from treatments that had 60% Columbus<I> grass</I> plus 40% Lablab. Significantly higher CP was obtained from the inclusion of 40% of lablab. Organic matter content (OM) of the silage vary significantly (p&lt;0.5) from 45.7-69.1%. Ether Extract (EE) varied (p&lt;0.05) from 6.6-19.4% with the higher values obtained from Columbus grass plus 40% lablab. The content of ash obtained showed significant variations (p&lt;0.05) in the composed silages. Higher OM and CF content were obtained from treatments that had 100% Columbus grass.
ER  -