Evaluating the effects of storage conditions on dry matter loss and nutritional quality of grain legume fodders in West Africa
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Date
2020-01-21
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Animal Feed Science and Technology
Abstract
Feed scarcity is a major challenge for livestock production in West Africa, especially during the
dry season when grass quality and quantity on grazing lands are inadequate. In the dry season,
crop residues are a key source of livestock feed. The residues of grain legumes, also known as
grain legume fodders (GLFs), are stored and traded for feeding in the dry season. The objectives
of our experiment were to evaluate the effects of storage conditions and duration on dry matter
(DM) and nutritional quality of GLFs, and to assess the risk of aflatoxin in stored groundnut
fodder. The experiment was designed as a factorial trial with 18 treatment combinations with
four replicates (4 farms). The treatments included: 3 types of GLFs (cowpea, groundnut and
soybean fodder), 3 types of storage locations (rooftop, room and tree-fork) and 2 types of
packaging (packed in polythene sacks and unpacked but tied with rope). Over a 120 day storage
period, DM quantity reduced by an average of 24 % across all storage conditions, showing a
range from 14 % in the best condition (sacks and rooms) to 35 % in the worst condition (bundles
tied with rope and stored on rooftops or tree-forks). Soybean fodder had no leaves, the lowest
crude protein content (CP) and organic matter digestibility (OMD), and the highest content of cell
wall components compared to cowpea and groundnut fodder. These nutritional quality parameters
in soybean fodder hardly changed during storage. Cowpea and groundnut fodder showed
a decrease in leaf-to-stem ratio (LSR), CP and OMD, and an increase in the content of cell wall
components during storage, but their nutritional value remained better than that of soybean
fodder. Storage in sacks resulted in less DM loss, in less reduction of LSR and in a smaller increase
of the content of cell wall components than storage of bundles tied with rope. Our study shows
that the DM loss, the decrease in LSR, and the increase in the content of cell wall components can
be prevented partly by storing GLFs in sacks instead of tying bundles with rope, and to a minor
extent by storing in rooms instead of in the open air. Aflatoxin was not detectable in the
groundnut fodder samples. Our results highlight that attention to storage conditions can improve
the feeding value of GLFs which are key for livestock nutrition during the dry season.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Crop residues, Storage, Fibre, Crude protein, Aflatoxin, in-vitro digestibility