In situ degradability of the sugar cane ensiled with urea and corn grain in different proportions

Abstract

The present work was carried out at the Agronomy Institute of Parana (IAPAR), to evaluate in situ the ruminal degradability of dry matter (DM) of sugar cane silage (Saccharum officinarum). The treatments tested were: pure sugar cane silage (SC), sugar cane
silage with 1% of urea (SCU) and sugar cane silage with 1% of urea and 2.5% of corn grain (SCUM). Tukey test was used to compare treatments means, significance level of 5%. The observed values for potential and effective degradability of the treatments were respectively: 52.07% and 38.23% for SC; 56.40%
and 45.17% for SCU; and 61.93% and 49.95% for SCUM. The potential and effective degradability of DM was greater (P < 0.05) for sugar cane silage with 1% of urea and 2.5% of corn grain than for SC and SCU. Among the tested silages, the one which presented the best results was the SCUM, what may be due to the replacement of sugar cane for ingredients with high ruminal degradation.