Effects of Carbon:Nitrogen Ratio On Quality of Chromolaena odorata Silage

Abstract

The main problem arises in silage making using protein source forages is decomposing process due to buffer activity of proteins that causing higher pH than that recommended values for a good ensilage process. Until recently, researches in silage processing merely focused on levels of carbohydrate source as additive, and lack of efforts to examine the efficacy of nitrogen:carbon (C/N) ratio in ensilage process. The present study was designed to test the effects of increasing carbon:nitrogen ratio on quality of Chromolaena odorata (an alternative protein source forage) silage. Four treatments with four replicates were tested namely CoN=  Chromolaeana without additional carbon source (C/N ratio of 14,9); CN20= Chromolaeana + additional carbon source for a C/N ratio of 20; CN25 = Chromolaeana + additional carbon source for a C/N ratio of 25; CN30 = Chromolaeana + additional carbon source for a C/N ratio of 30. The carbon source used was Corypha gebanga  meal. Variabel measured were organoleptic profiles, proportion of rotten fraction, nutrient composition, and invitro digestibility. Analysis of variance for completely randomized designed was employed in statistical analysis. The results showed that increased C/N ratio by up to 30 significantly improved silage organoleptic profiles, organic matter and crude protein content, yet reduced crude fiber content. Dry matter (DMD) and organic matter digestibility (OMD) indexes were significantly improved by up to 15% and 14% for  DMD and OMD respectively. It can be concluded that increasing C/N ratio by up to 30 in ensilage process of protein source  forage such as Chromolaena odorata will improve organoleptic profiles, nutrient content and digestibility of the silage.