Evaluation of the importance of sugarcane fiber digestibility in diets for growing steers

• Grant number: 09/00976-2
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: September 01, 2009 - February 29, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Luis Felipe Prada e Silva
• Grantee: Luis Felipe Prada e Silva
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Forages form the basis of ruminant nutrition, and cell wall digestibility is the main factor limiting animal performance. The identification of a parameter for fiber quality evaluation that effectively has an impact on animal performance is of great importance for sugarcane breeding programs. Our objective is to evaluate the effect of offering diets, containing sugarcane silages made from genotypes with either high or low stem NDF digestibility, for growing steers over the following parameters: 1) dry matter intake; 2) body weight gain and variation in body condition score; 3) ruminal digestion and passage rate of NDF; 4) ruminal parameters; and 5) quantification of amylolytic and cellulolytic bacteria. Forty eight Nelore steers of approximately 350 kg will be used, with twenty steers being cannulated in the rumen. Experimental diets will be composed of 50 or 70% concentrate in the dry matter and sugarcane silage from two genotypes, with either high or low stem NDF digestibility, will be used as roughage, in a total of four experimental diets. Intake will be individually measured. The experimental design will be that of random blocks with 12 repetitions (performance) or 5 repetitions (rumen metabolism and kinetics). The total rumen content mass and volume will be determined in the cannulated steers. Samples will be taken from both solid and liquid phases for determining the size of the rumen pool for diet components. Diet, orts and ruminal digesta will be analyzed for nutrient contents. The NDF ruminal passage rate (kp), digestion rate (kp) and finally apparent ruminal digestibility will be calculated. Polietilenoglicol with molecular weight of 4,000 will be used for determination of liquid volume and liquid passage rate at the rumen. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SOUSA, DANNYLO OLIVEIRA; MESQUITA, BRUNO DE SOUSA; PIRES, ALEXANDRE VAZ; DE ALMEIDA SANTANA, MIGUEL HENRIQUE; PRADA SILVA, LUIS FELIPE. Effects of fibre digestibility and level of roughage on performance and rumen fermentation of finishing beef cattle. TROPICAL ANIMAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTION, v. 49, n. 7, p. 1503-1510, OCT 2017. Web of Science Citations: 1.

DE SOUZA, JOHNNY MACIEL; DE SOUSA, DANNYLO OLIVEIRA; DE MESQUITA, BRUNO SOUZA; MESQUITA, LIGIA GARCIA; PRADA SILVA, LUIS FELIPE. Effect of sugarcane fiber digestibility, conservation method and concentrate level on the ruminal ecosystem of beef cattle. AMB EXPRESS, v. 7, MAR 6 2017. Web of Science Citations: 2.

SOUSA, D. O.; MESQUITA, B. S.; DINIZ-MAGALHAES, J.; BUENO, I. C. S.; MESQUITA, L. G.; SILVA, L. F. P. Effect of fiber digestibility and conservation method on feed intake and the ruminal ecosystem of growing steers. JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE, v. 92, n. 12, p. 5622-5634, DEC 2014. Web of Science Citations: 8.