Productivity and quality of Mulato II grass ( Urochloa hibrido) alone and silage with agroindustrial by-products

Abstract

The use of silage is considered as a feeding strategy in animal production systems with ruminants during dry periods. The objective was to evaluate the yield and nutritive value in forage and silage of Mulato II grass ( Urochloa hybrid) and two additives, at different regrowth ages. Ages of 3, 6 and 9 weeks and additives (orange peel and molasses) were evaluated in silages: 1) Mulato II (ME); 2) Mulato II + orange peel; 3) Mulato II + molasses and 4) Mulato II + orange peel + molasses. The variables were: yield (kg ha(-1) ) of total dry matter (TDM) and by morphological component, plant height (PH, cm), leaf area index (LAI), CP, NDF, ADF and lignin in forage and silage; pH, brix degrees and DM (\%) in silage. When the forage was harvested at nine weeks of regrowth, the highest DM yield was obtained (7 508 kg ha(-1) ), while the CP content was higher in week three of regrowth (201 g kg(-1) ), exceeding by 10 and 29\% that found in the sixth and ninth weeks. The silages with additives presented the highest CP values and the lowest values of ADF, NDF and pH. The higher the age of regrowth, the higher the dry matter yields, while the nutritive value decreased; however, the use of orange peel and molasses in grass silages improved the nutritive value.