Nutritional Value and Ruminal Digestibility of Mahasarakham Dwarf Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Mahasarakham) Silage Supplemented with Soymilk

Abstract

Dwarf elephant grass cv. Mahasarakham (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Mahasarakham) is a popular forage in the northeastern region of Thailand, which is abundant grazing rainy season. Conserving this forage as silage would provide an adequate roughage feed supply for ruminants during the dry season. This experiment was conducted to investigate the nutritional value and ruminal digestibility of dwarf elephant grass cv. Mahasarakham (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Mahasarakham) silage supplemented with soymilk residue at 0 %์ (the control), 10 %์, and 15 %์. The obtained results showed that dry matter, organic matter, gross energy, and crude protein of dwarf elephant grass cv. Mahasarakham silage supplemented with soymilk residue were increased when compared to the control (P<0.01). Dwarf elephant grass cv. Mahasarakham silage supplemented with soymilk residue at 15 %์ had the highest dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein (24.24, 89.70, and 17.92 %์, respectively) and contained gross energy up to 4,141.67 cal/g. NDF and ADF were found lowest, and dry matter digestibility was increased from 37.55 (the control) to 53.17 %์ (P<0.05) when the silage was supplemented with 15 %์ soymilk residue.