Department of Animal Nutrition, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur-741 252, India
Online published on 20 January, 2012.
Fortyfive graminaceous forages commonly grown locally were collected at different stages of growth and analysed for CP and various cell wall constituents. The results indicated that the CP content in all grasses decreased with the increasing age of the plants and ranged from 11 to 13%, 8 to 11% and 6 to 9% respectively at pre-flow-wering, flowering and post-flowering stages in grasses like Sorghum vulgare, Pennisetum typhoid and oats (Avena sativa). Hemicellulose content was maximum in oats (32.3%) at postflowering stage, whereas Sorghum vulgare at post-flowering stage contained highest amount of cellulose (36%). Lignin content, in general, increased with the increasing age of the forage and ranged from 4.40 to 6.30% at the pre-flowering, 5.24 to 8.12% at flowering and 4.40 to 9.65% for post-flowering stages of growth of annual grasses like maize, Sorghum vulgare, Pennisetum typhoid and oats. The lignin content in the thin napier, guinea and buffalo grasses was 10.00 12.02 to 19.06 and 16.00 per cent respectively.
