EFFECT OF DRY MATTER LEVELS AND SOURCE OF SOLUBLE CARBOHYDRATE ON QUALITY AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF CORN STOVER SILAGE

Abstract

The study was conducted in the nutrition laboratory belongs to Animal Production Department - College of Agriculture/Al-Qasim Green University to investigate the effect of dry matter (DM) levels (25, 30, 35 and 40%) of yellow corn stover (YCS) and the soluble carbohydrates sources (SCS) (cane molasses (C-M), date molasses (D-M) and corn flour (C-F)) on quality and nutritive value of produced silage. The results showed that increasing the DM levels before ensiling decreased (P<0.01) the percentage of DM loss, lower percentage of 9.78% was estimated in the silage samples made with a level of 40% DM. Some parameters of quality and nutritive value of silage including Fleig points (Fp) and aerobic stability (AS) were improved (P<0.01) in an ascending manner, while the higher in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) of 69.37% was associated with the samples made with a level of 35% DM. With regard to the effect of the SCS, the results showed that making YCS silage by the addition of C-M enhanced (P<0.01) Fp, AS and IVDMD as compared with other additives, values were 95.37 points, 97.55 hours, and 86.53%. However, silage samples made by the addition of C-F were characterized with less (P<0.01) DM loss percentage. The quality characteristics and nutritive value of silage were also affected by the interaction between the level of DM of YCS and the SCS added at ensiling.