Chemical Composition and in-vitro Digestibility of Nutrients Available from some Varieties of Sorghum Fodder Harvested at Different Stages
Abstract
Twenty one single cut sorgkum varieties at half flowering stage (S1) and dough stage (S2)were evaluated for their digestlbility using nylon bags. The DM, OM, NDF, ADF and hemicellulose contents increased while CP content decreased significantly (P<0.01) from S1 to S2 stage. The digestibility of all constituents decreased stgnificantly (P<0.01) from S1 to S2 stage and differed signilicantly (P<0.05) among varieties. A difference of 7.22 and 7.80 urits were fonnd in DM digestibility of least and best digestible variety at S1 and S2 stage, respectively. CP digestibility was found to be higher than other nutrients. Based on these results the fodder varieties could be ranked in the order of UP Chari-1, UP Chari-2, UP Chari-3, UPFS-21, UPFS-23, and HC-171. The results Indicate that considerable variation exists in chemical composition and digestibility of nutrients in different varieties of sorghum fodder grown even under similar environmental conditions. Harvesting at half flowering stage (S1) is better than harvesting at dough stage (S2) in terms of nutrient availability and economic benefits
