Abstract:
A study was conducted to find out the nutrient content of available forages around the premises
of Eastern University Sri Lanka. The forages used for this analysis were fodder grasses, pasture
grasses, pasture legumes, leguminous tree fodder, non-leguminous tree fodder and crop residues.
The collected forage samples were subjected to proximate analysis to find out the nutrient content
namelyCrudeProtein, Crude Fibre, Ether Extract,Ash and NitrogenFree Extract(NFE) and theVan
Soest analysis of fibre components such as Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF), Acid Detergent Fibre
(ADF) and Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL).
The available fodder grasses (Penesetum purpureum, CO3 and Panicum maximum), pasture
grass (Bracharia brizantha), past ure legumes (Centrosema pubescens and Stylosanthes
guianensis), and fodder legumes (Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium and Erithrina
indica) were used for this study. Non-leguminous tree fodders (Mangifera indica, Psidium
guajava, Artocarpus tetraphyllus and Ficus benghalensis) and certain crop residues derived
from Oryza sativa, Manihot esculetum, Glycine max, Zea mays, Vigna unguiculata and Ricinus
communis were also used for this analysis.
The analysis revealed that the non-leguminous tree fodder has the highest mean dry matter
content (46.8%) and ADL content (16.8%) than other forages. The highest mean value of ash
content (26.7%), Ether extract (4.9%) and Crude protein content (18.9%) were found in the
leguminous tree fodder compared to others. The mean value of NDF was high (73.4 %) in pasture
grasses whereas the ADF was found high (42.9%) in fodder grasses. The samples were deficient
in ash, crude protein, NDF and ADF. Crude Fat content was very low in almost all the forages.
