Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar
Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar
Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar
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Table 1. Average milk production, <strong>to</strong>tal solids content, and cost:benefit<br />
ratio of dual-purpose cows receiving supplements of different<br />
protein sources (Experiment 1).<br />
Treatment Milk<br />
production<br />
(kg/cow)<br />
Total<br />
solids<br />
(%)<br />
Fat<br />
(%)<br />
Cost of<br />
supplement<br />
(US$/kg)<br />
63<br />
Price of milk<br />
(US$/kg)<br />
Cost:benefit<br />
ratio<br />
1 5.5 b* 11.2 3.1 - 0.235 -<br />
2 5.9 a b 11.5 3.2 0.109 0.241 2.2<br />
3 6.3 a 11.2 2.9 0.217 0.235 1.1<br />
* Values in the same column followed by the same letter do not differ significantly (P = 0.076),<br />
according <strong>to</strong> Waller-Duncan’s test.<br />
Experiment 2. Milk production was highest in the treatment in which<br />
fresh C. argentea was offered; however, this treatment did not differ<br />
statistically from the treatment offering chicken manure or from the<br />
treatment offering ensiled Cratylia (Table 2).<br />
The silage obtained was highly palatable and of good quality (pH 4.5,<br />
16.5% CP, and 36% DM). Silage quality can accordingly be ranked as<br />
excellent (González et al., 1990).<br />
Milk quality did not differ among treatments; however, <strong>to</strong>tal solids and<br />
fat in milk were slightly higher in T1 (ensiled C. argentea) and T2 (fresh C.<br />
argentea) than in T3, which included chicken manure.<br />
The lowest production costs occurred in T2 and the highest in T3.<br />
However, the highest income per sale of milk was obtained <strong>with</strong> T1 and the<br />
lowest <strong>with</strong> T3. These results indicate that the highest economic benefit was<br />
obtained <strong>with</strong> T2, followed by T1 and T3.<br />
Table 2. Average milk production, <strong>to</strong>tal solids content, and cost:benefit ratio<br />
in dual-purpose cows supplemented <strong>with</strong> different sources of<br />
protein (Experiment 2).<br />
Treatment Milk<br />
production<br />
(kg/cow)<br />
Total<br />
solids<br />
(%)<br />
Fat<br />
(%)<br />
Cost of<br />
supplement<br />
(US$/kg)<br />
Price of milk<br />
(US$/kg)<br />
Cost:benefit<br />
ratio<br />
1 5.1 b* 12.3 3.6 0.164 0.260 1.6<br />
2 5.5 a 12.2 3.4 0.109 0.256 2.3<br />
3 5.3 a b 11.7 3.0 0.217 0.245 1.1<br />
* Values in the same column followed by the same letter do not differ significantly (P = 0.08),<br />
according <strong>to</strong> Waller-Duncan’s test.