Silage quality and animal performance as a response of the bacterial inoculants utilization: a meta-analysis

• Grant number: 16/04484-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2016
• End date: November 20, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Pastures and Forage Crops
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Andrade Reis
• Grantee: Carlos Henrique Silveira Rabelo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Bacterial inoculants have been largely used as additives at ensiling with the goal to improve silage quality, and sometimes, improvements on animal performance are also reported in animals consuming inoculated silage. However, there are still many doubts about the bacterial inoculants effectiveness since the responses are widely varied and, in many times, contradictory. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of several bacterial inoculants on the ensiling process and animal performance, using a meta-analytical approach. To overcome this challenge, the database used in the study will be constructed through the search of published articles in national and international journals available in several sites. Only published articles will be used aiming to become the database broad, robust, and representative about the bacterial inoculants utilization in the world. Published articles will be added in the database only when there is a comparison between one or more treatments containing bacterial inoculants against a negative treatment (untreated forage - control). Afterward the construction of the database, all variables will be analyzed only when there are a minimum of two studies for each variable and treatment. Residuals will be plotted against the predicted values to check the pressupositions of the model regarding homoscedasticity, independence, and error normality. The meta-analytical study will be performed through mixed models using the MIXED procedure of SAS, and the study effect will be added in the model by RANDOM statement. We expect the results of this study can allow the creation of strategies about the bacterial inoculants utilization aiming to increase their efficiency of use in widely varied conditions.

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)

SILVEIRA RABELO, CARLOS HENRIQUE; HARTER, CARLA JOICE; DA SILVA AVILA, CARLA LUIZA; REIS, RICARDO ANDRADE. Meta-analysis of the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus buchneri on fermentation, chemical composition and aerobic stability of sugarcane silage. GRASSLAND SCIENCE, v. 65, n. 1, p. 3-12, JAN 2019. (16/04484-0)