Changes in Chemical Composition and In-Sacco Disappearance of Sorghum Fodder at Different Stages of Maturity

To determine the effect of different stage of growth on the chemical composition and in sacco disappearance, samples of sorghum fodder at 30,40,45,50,60 and 90 days after sowing (DAS) were collected during the kharif season. All the samples were anallyzed for their dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), various cell-wall components such as neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and hemi-cellulose (HC) and their in-sacco disappearance were determined by incubating the samples in three rumen fistulated adult male cattle. The disappearance of NDF, ADF and HC was determined from 48 and 72h of incubation period. Degradation kinetics an effective degradability of all samples were also determined. Results of the study indicated a significant (P<0.05) increase in DM, OM and cell-wall components with advancing stage of maturity. While the CP content decreased significantly (P<0.05) with advancing stage of maturity. The in-sacco disappearance of DM, OM, NDF, ADF and HC were significantly (P<0.05) decreased with advancing stage of maturity. The degradation rate constant (c) of DM was higher (0.05) at 45 DAS and lower (0.01) at 90 DAS. Effective degradability of DM was decreased with advancing stage of maturity. The results indicated that plant maturity had a much greater effects on the chemical composition andin-sacco disappearance of sorghum fodder.