EVALUATIONS DE LA BIOMASSE FOURRAGERE FOLIAIRE ET DE LA COMPOSITION CHIMIQUE DES FEUILLES DUN LIGNEUXFOURRAGER SAHELIEN :MAERUA.CRASSIFOLIAFORSSK

A woodyfodderspecies, M. crassifoliaisparticularlysoughtafter by animals, especiallyduringthe dryseason. The overall objective of thisstudyis to evaluate the leaf production and the chemical composition of M. crassifolialeaves in the rural commune ofOurafane in the southernsahelianarea.Leaf production wasestimated using the standard branchmethodcombiningallometricequationswithdendrometricparameters. The phytochemicalstudy of the leaveswascarried out through the collection of 10 leafsamples of 50g each, takenfrom 10 individuals. Thesesampleswereanalyzedat the InternationlCropsResearch Institute for the Semi-AridTropics (ICRISAT)SoilAnalysislaboratory. Thus, leaf production wasestimatedusing the exponentialprediction model from the circumference of the trunk of the shrub:Pf = 0.0599e15.802CT (Pf, Leaf production in KgMS and CT, trunkcircumference in m). Leaf production is 23.65Kg DM/ha. The leaves are essentially made up of organicmatter (68.76±1.77%) and are rich in crudeproteins (26.63±1.66% MAT on average). Theyalsocontainminerals, the main onesbeing potassium (0.45±0.56) and phosphorus (0.13±0.02). The results of thisstudywill not onlycontribute to better management of the species but also and above all, theycanbeused by the livestock service for a rapid and reliableassessment of woodyfodder production.