Use of sugarcane molasses as an additive can improve the silage quality of sorghum-sudangrass hybrid

Abstract

This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of sugarcane molasses on the silage quality of sorghum-sudangrass hybrid (Sorghum bicolor × Sorghum sudanense). To explore this objective Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid was harvested at the milking stage and well-chopped for making silage in the laboratory silos by using sugarcane molasses at the rate of 0, 1, 2, and 3%. Silage developed so, was analyzed for nutritive quality traits (dry matter, pH, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, cellulose, hemicelluloses and ash). Silage quality was also assessed by calculating digestible dry matter, dry matter intake, digestible energy, metabolizable energy and relative feed value. Flieg score was deliberated by using the pH and dry matter. The results of the research revealed that application of molasses improved dry matter (26.27%), crude protein (8.14) and ash contents (7.68) as compared to the control, but had lower values of pH (3.99), neutral detergent fiber (57.86), acid detergent fiber (30.74), lignin (3.72), cellulose (27.02) and hemicelluloses (27.13) in comparison with the untreated silage (control). Flieg score of treated silage was also in the category of very good. All these findings lead us to conclude that the silage quality of sorghum-sudangrass can be considerably improved by the use of sugarcane molasses as an additive. Molasses addition at a rate of 3% can improve the nutritive value of sorghum-sudangrass silage to the maximum extent.