Evaluation of Sorghum Fodder Varieties for Nutritive Value At Two Stages of Growth

Two sorghum fodder varieties at two different stages of growth were fed to 12 crossbred heifers for their nutritional evaluation. The dry matter intake (kg/day) remained similar amongst local sorghum upper part, whole plant at pre-flowering stage and Rio at dough stage; however, the DMI intake of Rio variety at flowering stage was higher than at dough stage (2.13 vs 1.91 kg/day). The average DM and DM contents of Rio were higher than in local sorghum. But the average content of NDF, ADF, cellulose, ADL and total ash of local sorghum variety remained higher than Rio. The NDF and cellulose digestibility of Rio variety at flowering stage (50.01%) did not differ significantly than at dough state (48.35%). However, the digestibility of other nutrients decreased significantly (P<0.05) from flowering stage to dough stage in variety Rio. The NDF and hemicellulose digestibility of local sorghum (53.57 & 70.18%) was significantly (P<0.01) higher than Rio variety (49.10 & 61.11). The digestibility of nutrients at stage I was significantly (P<0.05) higher than at stage II except for CP and NDF. It may be concluded that Rio had the better nutritive value than the local variety for crossbred heifers at flowering stage. However, local sorghum at pre-flowering stage had better NDF and hemicellulose digestibility compared to the variety Rio at both stages. Moreover, it may be better to harvest green sorghum fodder at stage giving more amount of nutrients availability per unit of body size.