Abstract
AbstractVarious grass species with high biomass yield and low moisture demand have been introduced in the rangelands of Kenya to realize increased ruminant productivity that could not be achieved with the low quality of the indigenous grasses. However, this intervention ignores the different methane emission of the indigenous and introduced grasses, a necessary consideration for realizing increased productivity while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. This study determined in-vitro digestibility and methane emission of three indigenous grasses: Eragrostis superba (E. superba), Cenchrus ciliaris (C. ciliaris), Enteropogon macrostachyus (E. macrostachyus) and two introduced grasses (two varieties of Chloris gayana; Boma rhodes and Extozi rhodes. Samples of these five grasses (whole plant above ground) were collected from established pasture plots in South Eastern rangelands of Kenya. The grass samples were collected at bloom stage using one-meter square quadrats for proximate analysis and determination of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent lignin (ADL) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) using AOAC (1990) methods. On average, relative to the indigenous grasses, the introduced grasses were higher in crude protein (74.05 g Kg-1 dry matter (DM) vs. 52.11 g Kg-1 DM), organic matter digestibility 62.7% vs 53.6%) and in NDF (712.7 g Kg-1 DM vs. 708.0 g Kg-1 DM), metabolizable energy (16.35 vs 12.90 MJ/kg DM), methane emission (25.61 ml vs 15.93 ml) but with lower in-vitro-dry matter digestibility 54.24% vs 58.12%. Methane production positively correlated with crude protein, NDF, metabolizable energy, ADF and in-vitro organic matter digestibility. Hence, utilizing the introduced grasses to boost cattle production would achieve increased productivity but a point of concern are the higher methane emissions, not to mention the ecosystem change caused by the introduction of new species, which should affect the sustainability of the rangeland ecosystem.
Funder
Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie e.V. (ATB)
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Global and Planetary Change
Reference39 articles.
1. Abdulrazak SA, Fujihara T (1999) Animal nutrition: a laboratory manual. laboratory of animal science. faculty of life and enviromental science. Shimane University Japan 1:24–28
2. AOAC (1990) Official method of analysis (15th edn), Association of official analytical chemists, Washington D.C, U.S.A, pp 85–89
3. Archimede H, Eugène M, Magdeleine CM, Boval M, Martin C et al (2011) Comparison of methane production between C3 and C4 grasses and legumes. Anim Feed Sci Technol 166:59–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2011.04.003
4. Archimède H, Rira M, Eugène M, Fleury J, Lastel ML et al (2018) Intake, total-tract digestibility and methane emissions of Texel and Blackbelly sheep fed C4 and C3 grasses tested simultaneously in a temperate and a tropical area. J Clean Prod 185:455–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.03.059
5. Berndt A, Tomkins N (2013) Measurement and mitigation of methane emissions from beef cattle in tropical grazing systems: a perspective from Australia and Brazil. Animal 7:363–372. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731113000670