Effect of biodigester effluent on the biomass production of Tithonia diversifolia and the use of the foliage as the basal diet for goats

Nguyen Thi Thu Hong and T R Preston*

Angiang University, Vietnam
ntthong@agu.edu.vn
* TOSOLY, AA #48 Socorro, Santander, Colombia

Abstract

Experiments were carried out at the farm of Angiang University from January to August 2011 to measure: (i) the effect of fertilization with biodigester effluent on  biomass production of Tithonia diversifolia (Wild Sunflower); and (ii) the effect on intake and digestibility by growing goats of supplementing Tithonia diversifolia foliage with foliage from Sesbania sesban and/or Mimosa pigra.

Biomass productivity of Tithonia was raised by 175% by increasing the level of fertilization with biodigester effluent from 20 to 60 kg N/ha. Feed DM intake was increased by from 11 to 23% and N retention by 30-32% when goats fed a basal diet of Tithonia were supplemented with foliage from either Mimosa pigra or Sesbania sesban, or the combination of both legume foliages.

Key words: bypass protein, feed intake, legume foliage, N retention

Introduction

Tithonia diversifolia, commonly known as Mexican or Wild sunflower, is a shrub belonging to the family Asteraceae. Tithonia originated from Mexico, and it is now widely distributed throughout the humid and sub humid tropics in Central and South America, Asia and Africa (Sonke 1997). In Vietnam, Tithonia grows wild in the high lands.

Annual crude protein (CP) yield from Tithonia diversifolia can be very high at 6 tonnes/ha according to Sao et al (2010). DM intake and apparent DM digestibility of Tithonia foliage by goats were also high but N retention was low due to high excretion of N in the urine (Sao et al 2010).  Pathoummalangsy Khamparn and Preston (2008) showed that the nutritive value of Tithonia foliage for goats could be increased by supplementing it with Mulberry, a tree foliage considered to be rich in bypass protein.

Use of biodigester effluent is one option to be investigated in order to develop better crop growing practices. The advantages of passing manure through a biodigester are many and include gas production for cooking, improved human and animal health through elimination of pathogens and no loss of plant nutrients in the process (Bui Xuan An et al 1997).

Sesbania sesban (L.) Merr. is a leguminous short-lived tree which can grow to 8 m tall. It grows in a wide range of soils, and is especially tolerant of acid sulphate soil. It appears to grow best where periodic water logging or flooding is followed by a progressively drier season (Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan et al 2009). Kustantinah et al (2005) reported that the leaves of S. sesban contained up to 27% CP in DM and that it was a valuable supplement for weaned local goats in Indonesia, promoting improved feed intake and weight gain.

Mimosa pigra is an invasive shrub that has encroached many areas in Southwest Vietnam. However, recent research has shown that it has a high nutritive value as the basal diet for goats (Hong et al 2008). Harvesting the mimosa at an early growth stage (45 –60 days) gave maximum yields and high protein content with levels of tannin of 5 to 6% in DM, the latter being considered an important factor that could contribute  rumen by-pass characteristics to the protein by forming a tannin-protein complexes in the rumen (Thu Hong and Lam 2011). 

Materials and methods

Location

Two experiments were carried out in the farm of Angiang University.

Experiment 1: Agronomic evaluation of Tithonia diversifolia

Plot size and soils      

Nine plots were prepared on sandy loam soil with a total area of 144 m². The size of each plot was 4m x 4m. The Tithonia diversifolia was established from stem cuttings at distances  between plants of 0.5 m.

Design and treatments

The design was a completely randomized arrangement of 3 treatments with 3 replications. The treatments were 3 levels of fertilizer from biodigester effluent based on the nitrogen component:

• BE20 : Biodigester effluent applied with level 20 kg N/ha/ harvest

• BE40: Biodigester effluent applied with level 40 kg N/ha/ harvest

• BE60: Biodigester effluent applied with level 60 kg N/ha/ harvest

The effluent was from a biodigester charged with pig manure and contained 430mg N/liter.

Harvesting

Biomass productivity of Tithonia was measured 2 months after planting, cutting the stems approximately 30 cm above ground level. The biomass was weighed and then separated into leaves and stems.

Measurements and chemical analysis

Samples of biodigester effluent were analyzed for N before application to the Tithonia plots. Foliage samples were analysed for DM and CP according to AOAC (1990).

Statistical analysis

All the data were tabulated with MS Excel software and used for subsequent statistical analysis, according to the general linear model  in the Minitab software (2000). Sources of variation in the model were treatments and error 

Experiment 2: Nutritive value of Tithonia foliage for goats

Experimental animals, treatments and design

Four growing male goats (mean live weight 10±3 kg) were hired from small-holder goat keepers in the area. They were vaccinated against foot and mouth disease and de-wormed before the start of the experiment. They were individually fed in metabolism cages with free access to water and mineral blocks. 

The trial was designed with four treatments arranged as a 4*4 Latin square

• SS: Fresh Tithonia foliage ad libitum  supplemented with Sesbania sesban foliage at 1% of LW on DM basis.

• MP: Fresh Tithonia foliage supplemented with Mimosa pigra foliage at 1% of LW on DM basis.

• SS-MP: Fresh Tithonia foliage supplemented with Mimosa foliage at 0.5% of LW on DM basis and 0.5% of LW as Sesbania on DM basis

• TD: Fresh Tithonia foliage with no supplement

Feeding and management

Sesbania  was harvested daily from natural stands growing near the University campus. Mimosa foliage was from plots in the University campus managed with harvests at 50-60 days of regrowth. The Tithonia foliage  was from the experimental area described in Experiment 1.  All the foliages were offered in bunches suspended above the feed trough for the  goats to choose freely. Fresh feed was offered two times daily at 08:00  and 16:00.  

Each of the experimental periods lasted 20 days. During the first 14 days, the goats were  adapted to the new diets.. The feeds offered and refused, the feces and urine, were weighed in the morning during the last six days of each period. There were rest periods of 5 days between experimental periods, when the goats were fed on para grass.

Chemical analysis

Pooled samples of feed offered  and refused, feces and urine were preserved at -18°C for subsequent chemical analysis according to AOAC (1990).

Statistical analysis

All the data were tabulated with MS Excel software and used for subsequent statistical analysis, according to the general linear model  in the Minitab software (2000). Sources of variation in the model were treatments, goats, periods and error

Results and discussion

Experiment 1: Agronomic evaluation of Tithonia diversifolia

Biomass yields were increased by applying higher levels of biodigester effluent (Table 1).  Assuming 6 harvests could be made in one year the yield on an annual basis would be equivalent to 120 tonnes fresh biomass and 20 tonnes DM for the higher application level of effluent. These predictions are similar to the results reported by Sao et al (2010). There were no effects of level of biodigester effluent on the DM and CP content of the leaves and stems (Table 2).

 Experiment 2: Nutritive value of Tithonia foliage for goats

Chemical composition of the experimental feeds

All the foliages had high levels of crude protein (Table 3).

Feed intake and apparent digestibility

DM intake was increased (Table 3; Figure 1), but apparent digestibilities of DM, OM and CP were not affected, when Tithonia foliage was supplemented with foliages of Mimosa or Sesbania (Table 4).  

Figure 1. Effect on voluntary DM intake by goats of supplementing Tithonia foliage (FT) with Mimosa pigra (FTM), Sesbania sesban (FTS) or a mixture of Mimosa and Sesbania (FTMS)

N retention showed the same pattern as DM intake and was increased by 31 to 34% when the Tithonia was supplemented with  Mimosa or Sesbania or a combination of both these foliages (Table 5; Figure 2).

Figure 2. Mean values for N retention  by goats fed fresh Tithonia foliage with no supplement (FT) or  supplemented with Mimosa (FTM, Sesbania (FTS) or a mixture of  Mimosa and Sesbania (FTMS)

The increase in DM intake and in N retention when Tithonia foliage was supplemented with Mimosa or Sesbania is a similar response to that observed by Pathoummalangsy Khamparn and Preston (2008) when they supplemented fresh Tithonia foliage with foliage of Mullberry. Mimosa pigra at 5 to 6 weeks of regrowth has been reported to support high growth rates in goats (80 to 100 g/day), utilized either by grazing or for feeding in confinement (Nguyen Thi Thu Hong et al 2008). At this immature growth stage the tannin content was found to be in the range of 3 to 4% of the DM, a level considered to be optimum for enabling escape of the protein from the rumen fermentation (Barry 1989).

Conclusions

• Yield of biomass DM  of Tithonia diversifolia was almost doubled by tripling the application of biodigester effluent from 20 to 60 kg N/ha.

• N retention by goats was increased by 31-34% when the fresh Tithonia foliage was supplemented with either Mimosa pigra or Sesbania sesban, or by the combination of both legume foliages.

• It is concluded that the value of Tithonia diversifolia for ruminants is as a basal diet in cut and carry feeding systems. However, the expression of its potentially high nutritive value requires supplementation with a source of bypass protein. 

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the MEKARN Project; financed by Sida, for supporting this research. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Angiang University for administrative support and to the University  students who helped to carry out the experiments.

References

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Received 26 October 2012; Accepted 16 December 2012; Published 4 January 2013

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