Utilisation of forages from intensive feed garden as supplementary roughage for goats

Kanitta Tikam^*, Choke Mikled, Theera Visitpanich, Supharoek Nakkitset^* and Wichit Sonloi^*

Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
* Royal Project Foundation, Thailand

Abstract

The major feed resources for goats available in the Royal Project Foundation areas are natural grasses and crop residues. A study on the utilisation of forages from intensive feed gardens (IFG) as supplementary roughages for goats was carried out at the Huy Nam Rin (Site 1) and Mae Lord (Site 2) Royal Project Development Centers and at the Mae Hia Research and Demonstration Farm of the Royal Project Foundation (Site 3). Leguminous trees and shrubs (Gliricidia, Mulberry, and Trichanthera) and grasses (Napier grass and Guinea grass) were planted in small plots of 10 x 20 m in accordance with the IFG system at each location, and samples were taken for chemical analysis. At each site 5 female goats and 1 male goat were raised and their offspring were weighed each month to determine growth performance.

The dry matter (DM) contents of Trichanthera, Napier grass, Guinea grass, Gliricidia and Mulberry were 169, 192, 217, 239 and 264 g/ kg DM, respectively, and the DM yields of Guinea grass, Mulberry, Napier grass, Trichanthera and Gliricidia were 27.7, 34.9, 43.8, 45.6 and 53.3 kg/10 m², respectively. The average daily gains of the growing goats at the 3 sites were 120, 90 and 60 g/d, respectively.

Keywords: Gliricidia, Growing goats, Guinea grass, Intensive Feed Garden (IFG), Mulberry, Napier grass, Trichanthera.

Introduction

The integrated crop-livestock farming system is normally practiced by the upland farmers. In the past, cattle and buffalo were raised as draft animals but today are sold to raise cash income. Pigs and chickens have important traditional and cultural roles. Goats are normally raised by upland farmers, mainly for consumption in a rational manner, according to need, and production/consumption is not influenced by rituals and taboos as is the case with pigs and chickens. The major feed resources for goats in the Royal Project Foundation areas are natural grasses and crop residues.

The concept of the intensive feed garden (IFG) was adapted and tested in the Philippines by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, based on a design originally developed by the International Livestock Centre for Africa in Ethiopia. IFG aims at maximizing the cultivation of fodder per hectare through intensive cultivation of leguminous trees/shrubs and grasses cultivated in a small area (10 m x 20 m). This technology is recommended in marginal areas, where there is scarcity of land, where compound farming is practiced or where it is compulsory to confine livestock. It is appropriate where feed is scarce and not readily available for cut-and-carry systems (Dayrit 1990).

This study was aimed at evaluating the utilization of the forages from intensive feed gardens as supplementary roughage for goats in the uplands of Northern Thailand.

Materials and methods

Location and period of the study

The experiment was carried out from December 2006 - September 2007 at three selected sites: Huy Nam Rin (Site 1) and Mae Lord (Site 2) Royal Project Development Centers and Mae Hia Research and Demonstration Farm of the Royal Project Foundation (Site 3).

Animals, treatments and design

At each site 5 female goats and 1 male goat were raised and their offspring were weighed monthly to determine growth performance. The animals were confined in a house, with clean water supplied at all times. The legume trees and shrubs (Gliricidia, Mulberry, Trichanthera) and grasses (Napier grass and Guinea grass) were planted in small plots of 10 x 20 m according to the intensive feed garden (IFG) system at each location. The yields of forages were measured every 6-8 weeks and samples were collected for chemical analysis. The live weights of the growing goats were recorded every month. The collected data of each experiment were analyzed by CRD and the means compared using Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test (Steel and Torrie 1980).

Results and Discussion

Data on the chemical composition of the forages are presented in Table 1. There was a wide range in nutritive values of the grasses, trees and legumes. The dry matter (DM) contents of samples of Mulberry, Gliricidia, Guinea grass, Napier grass and Trichanthera were 26.4%, 23.9%, 21.7%, 19.2% and 17.0 %, respectively. Gliricidia had a higher crude protein (CP) content (19.9%) than Mulberry, Guinea grass, Trichanthera and Napier grass (18.4%, 13.0%, 12.4% and 11.1%, respectively), and crude fibre contents were 17.4%, 17.9%, 25.12%, 15.5% and 23.2%, respectively. The ether extract (EE) contents of Trichanthera, Mulberry, Gliricidia, Napier grass and Guinea grass were 6.53 %, 6.21 %, 4.79%, 4.68% and 3.55%, respectively. Vearasilp (1981) reported that Gliricidia leaves contained higher levels of CP (27.5%) and CF (27.5%) than in our study. Luyen et al (2003) reported that Trichanthera contained 17.5% DM and 19.5% CP and that Mulberry contained 26.1% DM and 17.9% CP. Hon et al (2005) found that Trichanthera contained 14.7% DM and 20.8% CP. Hao et al (2003) reported that Napier grass contained 12.4% DM and 14.8% CP and Udomsak (2006) reported values of 33.6% DM, 5.95% CP and 4.68% EE. Kanda et al (2004) reported that Guinea grass contained 7.2% CP and 3.55 % EE.

Table 1. Chemical composition of the forages used in the experiments
	Trichanthera	Napier grass	Guinea grass	Gliricidia	Mulberry
DM (%)	17.0 a	19.2 b	21.7 c	23.9 d	26.4 e
% of DM
CP	12.4 a	11.1 b	13.0 c	19.86 d	18.43 e
CF	15.5 a	23.2 b,c	25.2 a,b	17.41 b,c	17.93 c
EE	6.53b	4.68 a,b	3.55 a	4.79 a,b	6.21 b
a,b,c,d Values within a row without a common superscript are significantly different at P< 0.05

The DM yields of Guinea grass, Mulberry, Napier grass, Trichanthera and Gliricidia were 27.7 ± 1.63, 34.9 ± 1.65, 43.8 ± 2.11, 45.6 ± 2.21 and 53.3 ± 1.46 kg/ 10 m², respectively (Table 2). Total mean DM yield of the forages in a 10 x 20 m² plot would be 1 027kg.

Tien et al (2003) reported that the biomass yield (DM) of Mulberry was 2.58 tonnes/ha and Hao and Dong (2005) reported DM biomass yields of Guinea grass and Gliricidia of 0.97 and 1.70 tonnes/ha/year, respectively. Mikled et al (1994) reported that the DM production of Napier grass at each cutting was in the range 1 386 – 5 419 kg/ ha.

The average daily gains of the growing goats at the 3 Sites were 120 ± 0.02, 90 ± 0.04 and 60± 0.02 g/d, respectively (Table 3), values which were higher than those obtained in goats fed fresh Guinea grass (31.3 - 39.8 g/day)(Lin et al 2003). Hao and Dong (2005) reported that average birth weight, average final weight and daily gains of goats were 3.62, 15.7 kg and 101 g/day, respectively.

Conclusion

• The intensive feed garden system could be used as a model for farmers in the upland areas to supply supplementary forages for goats.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Research Section, Royal Project Foundation, for providing the funds for this study. Deep appreciation also goes to the Huy Nam Rin and Mae Lord Royal Project Development Centers, and Mae Hia Research and Demonstration Farm of the Royal Project Foundation, the Department of Animal Science of Chiang Mai University and their staff members for providing the facilities and helping to collect the data. Finally, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to MEKARN-Sida/SAREC for giving me chance to present this paper at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

References

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