Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access

Abstract

Chemical Composition and Nutritive Value of Oats (Avena sativa) Grown in Mixture with Vetch (Vicia villosa) with or Without Phosphorus Fertilization in East shoa Zone, Ethiopia

Negash D, Animut G, Urgie M and Mengistu S

A study was conducted to determine forage chemical composition as well as in vitro and in sacco dry matter digestibility of oats-vetch mixture forage. The study was conducted in a 5 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. The first factor was five different seed proportions, i.e., 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of oats and the remains vetch for SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4 and SP5, respectively. The sole oat had a seeding rate of Oats 80 kg/ha or 48 gm/plot, and that of sole vetch had a seeding rate of 25 kg/ha or 15 g/plot. The second factor was either without (P0) or with (P1) phosphorus fertilizer (DAP) application at a rate of 100 kg/ha or 60 g/plot. The size of the plots was 3 × 2 m. Seeds were drilled by hand in rows 30 cm apart, spaced approximately 5 cm between plants and covered with soil to about 3 cm depth. The CP content of forages was affected (P<0.01) by seed proportion but not by phosphorous application. The CP content increases with increasing proportion of vetch in the forage mixture and ranged from 12.4 to 23.5%. The contents of NDF, ADF and ADL appeared to increase with increasing proportion of oats in the mixture. In Vitro Dry Matter Digestibility (IVDMD) was not affected (P>0.05) by both seed proportion and phosphorus application. Conversely, in sacco DM degradability was significantly affected (P<0.01) by seed proportion across the different incubation hours, but without a consistent trend for a conclusive remark.