College of Veterinary Science, A.P. Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-30.
Online published on 21 January, 2012.
The effect of different levels of nitrogen (40, 60, 80 and 100 kg/ha) with constant level of phosphate (60 kg P2O5/ha) on the yield, chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of dry matter (DM) and cell wall constituents (CWC) of maize fodder was studied. Yield of fodder increased (P<0.01) with increased nitrogen (N) level. Yield of DM/hu was significantly different (P < 0.01) among the treatments and 60 kg/ha treatment gave highest DM/ha. Nitrogen level had no effect on the crude protein content of fodder. The in vitro digestibility coefficients of DM and CWC were highest with 40 kg N/ha and lowest with 100 kg N/ha presumably due to higher lignin and silica contents. These results indicated that increasing the level of nitrogen from 40 to 100 kg/ha had no beneficial effect on the quality of maize fodder.
