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Investigation nutrition value in cultured forage Alhagi in Yazd Province"
Abstract:
Background and Aim: Climate change will inevitably cause more deserts to become saline and dry, leading to a shortage of desert forage. Alhagi is a plant of the legume family and is resistant to salinity and drought, which is used to feed livestock in desert areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of salinity and drought stress on the nutritional value of Alhagi forages in ruminants.
Material and methods: Alhagi with different levels of irrigation (conventional and drought stress) and different water hardness (including six treatments) was planted using seeds in research farms of Yazd province and was harvested early in flowering. The experimental treatments were then transferred to the laboratory of the Animal Science Research Institute (Hyderabad, Karaj) and the chemical compounds including dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), crude fat (CF), neutral detergent-insoluble fiber(NDF), non-fiber carbohydrates (NFC) and crude lignin (ADL) were measured. Also, in-vitro experiments including fermentability (at different hours), methane production and digestibility (DMD and OMD) were performed and energy consumption indices and relative nutritional value of experimental forages were calculated. Results: OM, CP, CF, NDF, ADF, NFC and ADL of Alhagi forage(low-saline water by conventional irrigation method) were obtained 88.6, 10.7, 9.2, 32.4, 25.2, 36.3 and 17.1% of dry matter, respectively. Gas production in 24 hours of ruminal fermentation (ml in 200 mg sample), digestibility of organic matter (%), volatile fatty acids (mmol), metabolizable energy (MJ/kg), gas methane (mL), the relative nutritional value (RFV) in sheep and goats for the mentioned treatment were obtained 36.1, 59.2, 0.23, 7.7, 8.2, 161.7, 136.8, respectively. Concluding: Overall, it seems that the nutrients in one hectare of Alhagi forage cultivated with low-saline water by conventional irrigation method (every 10 days) can meet the daily forage requirements of ruminants more than other experimental treatments and reduce feed production costs in desert areas. Therefore, Alhagi is the future fodder of desert areas.
Keywords: Alhagi comelerum, irrigation salinity and drought stress, nutritional value, ruminants
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