Effect of ensiling on the nutritive value of groundnut hulls and wheat straw

Abstract

In this experiment a laboratory ensiling technique was 
developed to inves- tigate the effect of biological treatment (ensiling), 
on the nutritive value of poor quality by-products such as groundnut
hulls (G.N.H.), and wheat straw (W.S.). Twenty four hours prior to 
packing into plastic bags, (lab. silos) the G.N.H. and W.S. were 
reconstituted with distilled water to a D.M. content of 45% and then 
ensiled for three weeks with and without molasses, bagasse or sugar
cane-tops (S.C_T.), added at 5 and 10% level on DM basis of the 
ensiled substrate. The average quantity of the ensiled material in each 
sac was 450 and 300 gms for G.N.H. and W.S. respectively. G.N.H. 
silage with and without additives was of good quality shown by lower 
pH, higher lactic acid, higher ammonia nitrogen content and lower DM 
loss, compared with that of W.S. which did not benefit from ensiling 
without additives. However molasses and bagasse added at 5 and 
10% levels lowered the pH of W.S. sil- age by 20 and 17%, 20.6 and 
15.7% respectively. The lactic acid content (L.A.) was significantly 
increased in the W.S. silage due to additives.