Effect of legume type and nitrogen source on milk yield among dairy cows fed maize (Zea mays) stover treated with groundnut (Arachis hypogea) and soybean (Glycine max) stover
1 Department of Animal Science, Southern University, Livingstone, Zambia.
2 Department of Agriculture, Mulungushi University, Kabwe, Zambia.
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2021, 11(03), 178–191
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2021.11.3.0223
Publication history:
Received on 23 June 2021; revised on 07 September 2021; accepted on 09 September 2021
Abstract:
The main objective of the study was to develop technology for improving utilization of abundant quantities of under- utilized crop residues and leguminous plants during the dry season to mitigate effects of dry season on milk yield. The study was set up to test practical ways of upgrading low quality roughage and their effect on milk yield. A 22 factorial experiment within a Completely Randomised Design (CRD) was used. The study involved improving the quality of maize stover using urea fertilizer (UF), chopped groundnut (cGS) and soybean (cSS) stover, mineralized groundnut (mGS) and mineralized soybean (mSS) solution as sources of nitrogen. Research findings revealed superiority of UET over both groundnut and soybean stover in improving the quality of maize stover. Across legume types, groundnut stover had a higher positive effect on improving the quality of maize stover in terms of milk yield. Within legume stover type mGS showed superior milk yield values than cGS. The reverse was true for soybean stover. The study indicated the effect of improving maize stover with cSS on milk yield was higher than that of mSS in improving the quality of maize stover. It was generally observed that the use of mineralization of legume stover in improving the quality of maize stover is more effective than chopping. Pooled result of effect of mineralised groundnut and soybean stover on milk yield was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of the chopped forms for the same legume stover. When evaluated across legume type the effect of legume type on milk yield did not differ significantly (p>0.05) for both processing methods.
Keywords:
Maize; Groundnut; Soybean; Stover; Nitrogen; Milk
Full text article in PDF:
Copyright information:
Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0