Digestibility of fortified sugarcane-top pellets supplemented with concentrates and Arachis pintoi leaf meal in goats

Abstract

An in vivo digestibility trial was conducted to assess the digestibility of fortified sugarcane top (SCT)-based pellets supplemented with concentrates and Arachis pintoi (Pinto peanut) at varying ratios. Six female goats were randomly assigned to six different treatments: T1-concentrate at 1.25% of BW, T2-concentrate at 1.00% of BW and A. pintoi at 0.25% of BW, T3- concentrate 0.75% of BW and A. pintoi at 0.50% of BW, T4-concentrate at 0.50% of BW and A. pintoi at 0.75% of BW, T5-concentrate at 0.25% of BW + A. pintoi at 1.00% of BW and T6-A. pintoi at 1.25% of BW, all in dry matter (DM) basis. The feeding trial was repeated four times with 7 day intervals as replicates. Feed intake and fecal output were recorded and samples were analysed for dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). Nutrient digestibility were computed and data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance for a randomized complete block design while pairwise comparison of treatment means was done using Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference Test. Results show that the ratio of concentrate and A. pintoi at 0.75% and 0.50% of BW, DM basis, significantly increased the digestibility of fortified sugarcane top-based pellets in goats, thus maximizing its utilization.