EVALUATION OF PROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF SOME GRASSES GROWN AT BINYAMINU USMAN POLYTECHNIC HADEJIA, NIGERIA

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to examine the proximate composition, fibre fraction and energy content of ten common grasses grown in Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic Hadejia, Nigeria. The ten grasses evaluated were; Pennisetum pedicellatum, Digitaria velutina, Eragrostis ciliaris, Eragrostis tremula, Axonopus compressus, Cyperus rotundus, Kyllinga erecta, Cenchrus biflorus, Cynodon dactylon, and Dactyloctenium aegyptium. All proximate components evaluated were significantly (p < 0.05) different among the grasses. The average dry matter content was 93.85% with minimum and maximum values of 91.20% in Cyperus rotundus and 97.20% in Digitaria velutina, respectively. The crude protein (CP) contents of the grasses were slightly low, which ranged from 1.24% in Dactyloctenium aegyptium to 9.12% in Axonopus compressus; while the crude fibre ranges from 24.90% in Digitaria velutina to 35.60% in Pennisetum pedicellatum. Neutral Detergent Fibre was recorded with a minimum and maximum values of 40.60% in Digitaria velutina and 66.30% in Axonopus compressus respectively, while the Acid Detergent Fibre ranges from 31.00% in Digitaria velutina to 37.90% in Axonopus compressus. The energy contents of the grasses were also significantly (p < 0.05) different, this ranges from 176.89kcal/kg in Axonopus compressus to 809.59kcal/kg in Pennisetum pedicellatum with an average of 329.07kcal/kg. The proximate composition of the grasses revealed that the DM, CP and energy contents are good enough to facilitate ruminant feeding, although; a little supplementation may be required for CP that is averagely below a threshold of 8%.