Growth performance, Biomass Production and Influence of Selected Brachiaria Cultivars on Milk Yield from Dairy Cows at Sokoine University Model Farm, Tanzania

Abstract

The effect of climate change and variability has posed serious nutritional stress to livestock in tropical region. Although, high yielding fodder grass such as climate-smart Brachiaria have been recommended for smallholder dairy farming in semi-arid regions, little information is available with regard to growth habits, yield and their impacts on dairy productivity. The on-station experiments were conducted at Sokoine University Model Farm to investigate the growth characteristics of three Brachiaria cultivars and their influence on feed intake and milk yield of dairy cows. The Complete Randomized Design was used to examine the growth and yield attributes of three Brachiaria cultivars; Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk (BdB), Brachiaia brizantha cv. Piata (BbP) and Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraes (BbX). The second experiment was feeding trial that used the two best selected Brachiaria cultivars (BdB & BbP); tested against two breeds of dairy cows (Friesian and Ayrshire) in terms of feed intake and milk yield using 2 × 2 factorial design. The results revealed significant higher numbers of tillers (46%) and leaves per plant (47%) for BdB. In addition the cultivar Basilisk exhibited significant higher above ground biomass yield (7545.2kg/ha) which was attributed to its morphological structure. Interestingly, dairy cows fed on Piata had relatively higher feed intake and milk yield. Establishment of BbP for smallholder dairy producers is recommended especially in areas characterized with sub-humid climate. Further studies on nutritional composition and digestibility of Brachiaria are recommended.