Abstract:

Three kinds of forage crop, Sudan Grass—Wancao2, Euchlaena perennis Hitchc. and ND108 which is also used as food were used to compare the nutritive composition. Both fresh matter yield and dry matter yield of Wancao2 was the highest, that of E. perennis the median, and ND108 the lowest relatively. Main component of dry weight was leaves in Wancao2 and E. perennis, while stems in ND108. The yields of crude protein(CP), nitrogen-free extract(NFE), acid-washed fiber (AWF), ether extract (EE) and crude ashes (CA) were higher in Wancao2 than in E. perennis and ND108 significantly, however, the content of CP and CA was the highest in E. perennis and the lowest in ND108. In addition, the total energy (GE) of Wancao2 was 1 448.024×10⁶ J·hm^-2 and 2 339.687×10⁶ J·hm^-2 higher than that of E. perennis and ND108, respectively. The degradation rate of dry matter and CP were the highest in ND108, which was 57.880% and 12.424%. The degradation rate of crude fiber was higher in E. perennis than in Wancao2. The differences of degradation rate of CP and dry matter between E. perennis and Wancao2 are not significant. In conclusion, the difference of nutrition among the three kinds of forage crops results from their different biological characteristics.

Key words: Forage crop, Type, Nutritive composition, Comparison