Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

Use of Additives for Making Cratylia argentea Silage
Carlos Jiménez, Luis Pineda, and Alvaro Medina
UCR, Costa Rica
In the dry tropics of Costa Rica (0-800 masl, 1,200-1,800 mm of
precipitation; 6 months of dry season), Cratylia argentea has been
successfully introduced into dual-purpose farms to solve the problems of
low forage availability during summer months. Mixing Cratylia forage and
chopped sugarcane has proved useful to maintain milk yields of 6-6.5
kg/cow per day in crossbred Zebu x European dairy cows (Argel and
Lascano, 1998; Lobo and Acuña, 1998).
Producers value Cratylia’s high CP content (more than 15%) and its
adaptability and persistence. Furthermore, one of its advantages is that
surplus forage can be ensiled for use during times of feed shortage. This is
especially important because cows do not readily consume Cratylia forage
when the offer of other forage grasses in the pastures is high.
This study aims to evaluate the process of making silage from Cratylia,
using several fermentative and nutritive additives. Overall, legumes are more
difficult to ensile than grasses because they have a high buffer capacity that
hinders adequate acidification of anaerobic media, in addition to its low
soluble carbohydrate content.
Materials and Methods
The foliage of 90-day legume regrowth was manually harvested and
chopped to a 16-mm bite size. Microsilos made of double polyethylene
plastic bags, with approximately 1.5-kg capacity, were used. Cratylia was
mixed with three additives: cane molasses (M), pineapple pulp (PP) and
chopped sugarcane (CSC). Each additive was incorporated at three levels: M,
at 10%, 20%, and 30%; PP and CSC, at 25%, 50%, and 75%, all on fresh
basis (w/w). Treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design
with three replicates.
Cratylia foliage was obtained from an experimental plot at the Escuela
Centroamericana de Ganadería (ECAG), located in Atenas, Costa Rica, at
460 masl. Pineapple pulp was collected at the Del Oro plant in Santa Cecilia
de la Cruz, Guanacaste, and the sugarcane was gathered at a private farm
located in the Hojancha canton, also in Guanacaste.
32