Mimosa pigra for growing goats in Mekong Delta, Vietnam

Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, Vo Ai Quac*, Tran Thi Kim Chung, Bach Van Hiet, Nguyen Thanh Mong and Phan The Huu

 Department of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary,
Angiang Uniiversity, Vietnam
ntthong@agu.edu.vn
* Agriculture and Fisheries Export – Import Company (AFIEX),
1234/63 Tran Hung Dao, Long Xuyen, An Giang, Vietnam.

In Tram Chim National park in Dongthap province there is a dense infestation with Mimosa pigra. Studies were made on: (i)  effect of harvesting frequency on biomass yield and composition;  and (ii) growth rates of goats fed mimosa foliage under grazing condition or in confinement.  Harvesting of the mimosa at an early growth stage (45 – 60 days) gave higher dry matter yield and content of crude protein (>20% in DM) with lower concentration of condensed tannins.

Sixteen growing goats were allocated to 4 farm households in a 2*2 factorial arrangement of four  treatments: G: Grazing of mimosa pigra; GS: Grazing of mimosa  in the day time and supplement with grass at night time; C: Confined feeding with 100% of mimosa pigra ; CS : Confined feeding with mimosa pigra and grass free choice. Growth rates were higher (.90 g/day) under grazing condition than in confinement (60 g/day) with no benefit from also having access to grass.

Key words:  Biomass, confinement, digestibility, feed intake, grazing, grass supplement