Abstract
Fodder trees and shrubs are important diet and they can provide huge amount of nutrient for grazing animals specifically in areas where less amount of forage is found. The current study was conducted during the year of 2020-2021 at Southern Ethiopia with the objectives of evaluating the palatability and nutrient composition of Terminalia brownii leaves grown in farmland. Survey was conducted in the study area with a 5 % of the total HHs through selecting randomly from the kebeles resident list. Five samples from each management practice i.e. lopping, pollarding and pruning were taken and analyzed in the laboratory for nutrient composition. The results revealed that among different management practices the palatability of T. brownii was ranked in the order of pruning > pollarding >lopping. The nutrient composition varied significantly (P < 0.05) among three tree management practices i.e. lopping, pollarding and pruning which includes 5.40 %, 4.60 % and 5.50 % of crude protein (CP), 8.59 %, 10.65 % and 12.23 % of Ash, 74.90 %, 59.53 % and 79.30 % of acid detergent fiber (ADF) respectively. The study confirmed that pruning was the best T. brownii tree management practice for the farmers to feed their goats and cattle. On the basis of current study it is recommended that farmers should use leaves of the fresh growth stage for their ruminant and farmers required to be trained in adoption of package and practices of the species in their farm land.
Article History
Received: Jan 24, 2023; Accepted: May 04, 2024; Published: Jun 30, 2024
Recommended Citation
Bekele, B.,
Hooda, M. S.,
& Tesfaye, A.
(2024).
Evaluation of Palatability and Nutrient Composition of Terminalia Brownii (Fresen) Leaves Grown in Farm Land in Southern Ethiopia,
Journal of Bioresource Management, 11
(2).
