Evaluation of Some Forage as Feed for Ruminant Animal: Chemical Composition, In Vitro Rumen Fermentation, and Methane Emissions

This experiment aimed to evaluate chemical composition, in vitro rumen fermentation, digestibility,and methane emissions of foragesincludingbede grass, gamal(Gliricidia sepium), Indigofera, lamtoro(Leucaena leucocephala), elephantgrass, mini elephant grass and Thai elephant grass. Forage samples were dried at 60oC for 24 hours, then ground to 1 mm sieve. The ground samples were used subsequently to determine the chemical composition and in vitro rumen fermentation test. Incubation was carried out in a water bath at 39oC for 48 h without replication. The results showed that all forages contained various crude proteinat a range of 9-20% DM. The proportion of neutral detergent insoluble CP (NDICP) and aciddetergent insoluble CP (ADICP) in forage was generally low, but thehighest was found in bede grass. The highest NH3concentration was found in Indigoferaincubation, and lowest was in bede grass. All forage samples,except for mini elephant grass and Indigofera,had IVDMD and IVOMD below 70%. We identified low methane emissions from forage at 48 hours of incubation. It was concluded that legumes had a higher crude protein than in grass species and hadlow methane emissions. However, the relatively lowdigestibility of legume may limit its utilization.