Supplementation of cassava hay and ensiled cassava foliage to replace concentrate use in beef cattle

Anan Petlum, Surachai Boonlue and Werachai Thongdee

Program in Animal Production Technology, Faculty of Technology, UdonThani Rajabhat University, UdonThani, 41000, Thailand
ananpetlum@hotmail.com,   ;   ananpetlum@yahoo.com

Abstract

This experiment investigated the supplementation of various forms of cassava foliage to replace concentrate in beef cattle.  Rumen-fistulated male crossbred beef cattle (n = 4) were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments: concentrate supplement at 1.0 % of body weight (%BW), (Control), concentrate supplement at 0.5% BW and cassava hay supplement at 0.5% BW (CH); concentrate supplement at 0.5% BW and cassava hay +ensiled cassava foliage (1:1) at 0.5% BW (CH+ECF); and concentrate supplement at 0.5% BW and ensilaged cassava foliage supplement at 0.5% BW (ECF) according to a 4 x 4 Latin square design.

The results showed that replacing concentrate with higher fiber content feeds as CH or ECF did not affect  UTRS and total feed intakes (P>0.05). Blood-urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations and ruminal pH at both 0 and 4 h-post feeding were not significantly different between  treatments (P>0.05).   It can be concluded that CH and/or ECF could be supplemented to beef cattle to replace concentrate without any effect on feed intake, BUN concentration and ruminal pH, and could be recommended to be used as high quality protein source for sustainable beef production

Keywords: local feed resources, processing method, protein source, smallholder farmers

Introduction

Local feed resources, particularly agricultural crop-residues such as rice straw and cassava foliage are important for ruminant feeding in the tropics (Wanapat 1999). Cassava (Manihotesculenta, Crantz), particularly sun-dried whole upper parts  named cassava hay (CH) was recommended by Wanapat et al (1997) and widely used by smallholder farmers subsequently. However, cassava hay making is difficult to implement  particularly due to high-moisture content during the rainy season, alternative strategies in using cassava foliage as protein source such  in fresh (Wora-anu et al 2004) or ensiled form (Phuc et al 1996)  would be an alternative  to conserve  cassava foliage quality. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to investigate the supplementation of various forms of cassava foliage to replace concentrate on voluntary feed intake, rumen ecology and blood metabolite of beef cattle.

Materials and Methods

Four rumen-fistulated male crossbred beef cattle were randomly assigned in a 4 x 4 Latin square design. The four dietary treatments were concentrate supplement at 1.0 % of body weight (%BW) (Control); concentrate supplement at 0.5% BW and cassava hay supplement at 0.5% BW (CH); concentrate supplement at 0.5% BW and cassava hay +ensiled cassava foliage (1:1) at 0.5% BW (CH+ECF); concentrate supplement at 0.5% BW and ensiled cassava foliage supplement at 0.5% BW (ECF). Animals were individually penned, and water and minerals block were available at all times. Cassava foliage was taken from top parts of cassava crop at 10-12 months maturity, cassava hay was prepared by chopped and 2-3 days sun-drying as described by Wanapat et al (2000), while ensiled cassava foliage was prepared by chopped and kept in anaerobic condition in black-plastic bag for 10 days. All feed from each period were sampled and determined for dry matter content. Ingredients composition of concentrate and dry matter (DM) contents of concentrate, CH, ECF and UTRS are shown in Table 1.Concentrate, CH and ECF were fed to animals according to each treatment as described previously. Urea-treated rice straw (UTRS) was given ad libitum as roughage source, and all feed intake were recorded daily. Blood and rumen fluid samples were collected at 0 and 4 h-post feeding on the last day of each period. Blood samples were analyzed for blood urea nitrogen (BUN) (Crocker 1967). Rumen fluid samples were measured immediately for pH. All data were subjected to analysis of variance using Proc. GLM (SAS 1998) and treatment means were statistically compared by Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test (Steel and Torrie 1980).

Results and Discussion

Dry matter (DM) content of concentrate, CH, ECF and UTRS contained 92.0, 92.4, 31.5 and 51.8 % (respectively) (Table 1), where DM contents of CH and UTRS were similar to data reported by Wanapat et al (2000), while DM content of ECF was similar to cassava leaf in fresh form as reported by Hang and Preston (2005).

Intakes of concentrate and ECF followed the feeding procedure for all treatments, while intakes of cassava hay in CH (0.37% BW) seem to be lower than feeding procedure (Table 2). Ensiled processing method may help improve cassava foliage texture, particularly for cassava stem parts that remained when fed in hay form. However, replaced concentrate with higher fiber content feed as CH or ECF did not affect (P>0.05) intakes of UTRS, in contrast, intake of UTRS tended to increase when supplemented with ensiled cassava foliage.

Blood-urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations at both 0 and 4 h-post feeding were not significantly different among treatments (P>0.05) and all treatment were at optimal level range, while ruminal pH were similar among treatments for both at 0 and 4 h-post feeding. Based on this experiment, it was shown that cassava hay and/or ensiled cassava foliage could be supplemented to replace concentrate without any effect on BUN concentration and ruminal pH.

Conclusions

• The results demonstrate that cassava foliage both in hay or ensiled forms could be used as supplement  replace concentrate  in beef cattle without affecting  feed intakes, blood-urea nitrogen concentration and ruminal pH.

  
  

• Ensiling method  appeared to improve texture of cassava stem which resulted in higher intake compared to sun-drying. However, further research is needed concerning the appropriate level of concentrate replacement and the effects on feed digestibility and rumen ecology such as concentrations of NH₃-N and volatile fatty acids, and rumen microbes.

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful for the financial support of the Research & Development Institute, UdonThaniRajabhat University, and for Rural Research & Development Center (Ban-Taad), Faculty of Technology, UdonThaniRajabhat University, for their facilities.

References

Crocker C L  1967 Rapid determination of urea nitrogen in serum or plasma without deproteinization. American Journal of  Medical Technology 33: 361.

Hang D T and Preston T R  2005 The effects of simple processing methods of cassava leaves on HCN content and intake by growing pigs. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 17 (9), Article #99 http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd17/9/hang17099.htm

Phuc B H N, Ogle R B, Lindberg J E and Preston T R  1996 The nutritive value of sun-dried and ensiled cassava leaves for growing pigs. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 8 (3) http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd8/3/phuc83.htm

SAS  1998 SAS/STAT User’s guide Version 6.12. Statistical Analysis System Inst. Inc., Cary, NC.

Steel R G D and Torrie J H  1980 Principles and Procedures of Statistics: A Biometerial Approach. (2^nded.). McGraw-Hill, New York, U.S.A.

Wanapat M  1999 Feeding of Ruminants in the Tropics Based on Local Feed Resources. KhonKaen Publishing Company Ltd. KhonKaen, Thailand. 236 pp.

Wanapat M, Petlum A and Pimpa O  2000 Supplementation of cassava hay to replace concentrate use in lactating Holstein Friesian crossbreds. Asian-australasian Journal of Animal Science. 13-600-604.
 

Wanapat M, Pimpa O, Petlum A and Boontao U  1997 Cassava hay: A new strategic feed for ruminants during the dry season. Livestock Research for Rural Development. Volume 9 (2), Article #18 http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd9/2/metha92.htm

Wora-anu S, Wanapat M, Wachirapakorn C and Nontaso N  2004 Proc. 11^th AAAP Congress. September 5-9, 2004, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Received 8 September 2011; Accepted 10 September 2011; Published 10 October 2011

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