BIOMASS SORGHUM SILAGES WITH SUGARCANE

Abstract

The storage of forage to be offered at different times of the year are viable alternatives for all production systems, and sorghum biomass has been highlighted for this purpose. As preserved forage, it was hypothesized that sugarcane can contribute to the fermentation process. The objective was to evaluate the inclusion of different levels of sugarcane (0, 20, 40 and 60%) in the silage of three biomass sorghum genotypes (B012, B017 and B018). The material was ensiled using PVC silos and after 60 days the silos were opened and the contents of dry matter, mineral matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, hemicellulose, lignin, and hydrogen potential were determined. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design, in a factorial scheme with four replications. The data were analyzed through the analysis of variance followed by multiple comparison by Tukey's test (α < 0.05) and linear regression. The biomass sorghum genotypes responded satisfactorily to the fermentation process, resulting in quality silages. However, the inclusion of sugarcane did not improve the quality of the silages, and its inclusion in the silage of the genotypes evaluated is not recommended.