Effect of inclusion levels of legumes Macrotyloma and Calopo in Marandu palisadegrass forage on nutritional value, ruminal fermentation and gas production

• Grant number: 24/13562-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Pastures and Forage Crops
• Principal Investigator: Flavia Maria de Andrade Gimenes
• Grantee: Camila Fernanda Chiarini Silveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Zootecnia. Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). Nova Odessa , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/02480-7 - Impacts of shrub species from the Northern Mixed-Grass Prairies on in vitro ruminal fermentation parameters, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the ruminal fermentation parameters and gas production in forage of Marandu grass (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu Syn Urochloa brizanta) and Macrotyloma (Macrotyloma axillare) and Calopo (Calopogonium mucunoides) legumes. The experiment will be conducted at the Instituto de Zootecnia, Nova Odessa for one year (September 2024 to September 2025) and sample collections will be carried out in the dry (September 2024) and rainy (February 2025) periods. The seven treatments will be: treatment 1 (T1) exclusive Marandu grass forage, T2 to T4 inclusion levels of Macrotiloma forage in the samples of 25, 50 and 75%, respectively and T5 to T7 inclusion of Calopo in the same proportions. The design will be completely randomized with three area replicates for two evaluation periods. The forage samples will be obtained through grazing simulation in a pasture area formed with Marandu grass and the Macrotyloma and Calopo samples in a seedbed area. After collection, the forages will be weighed, dried in a forced circulation oven at 55ºC for 72 hours or until constant weight and ground in a 1 mm mill. The dry and ground material will be weighed and the compositions made with physical mixture in the proportions indicated in the treatments, totaling 21 samples per period and totalizing 42 samples. After this stage, the nutritional value analyses will be performed [(crude protein, in vitro digestibility of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and lignin)], in vitro gas and methane production, degradability of organic matter and neutral detergent fiber, ammoniacal nitrogen and short-chain fatty acids. It is expected to evaluate the impact of the inclusion of Macrotyloma and Calopo legumes in Marandu grass pastures on the nutritional value, ruminal fermentation parameters, and gas production aiming at greater sustainability of the production system.