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Matching Livestock Systems with Available Resources |
MEKARN Regional Conference 2007 |
Biomass potential of ramie foliage was investigated at three sites in the Red River Delta through harvesting, sampling and analyzing for chemical composition. Nutritive values of the leaves (fresh or dried) and whole plants (fresh) were determined in an in vivo digestibility trial with sheep while the in sacco degradation characteristics were examined using a ruminally cannulated steer.
The yield of ramie foliage grown in Red River Delta region could be as high as 126 tonnes of fresh matter/ha/year or 17.3 tons DM/ha/year. The yield of leaves only could reached 56 tons fresh matter/ha/year or 9.6 tons DM/ha/year. The ramie foliage either in whole plant or in the leaf portion only had high protein (>21% in DM) and ash (19-22% in DM) contents while drying reduced CP content of the leaves. In vivo apparent digestibility coefficients of OM, CP, and NDF of fresh leaves were 78.5, 80.9 and 82.6%, respectively. Values for dried leaves and dried whole plants were 63.1, 60.6, 76.1% and 66.1, 75.9, 62.5%, respectively.
It is concluded that ramie foliage has a relatively high nutritional value as a feed for the ruminant.