ASSESSMENT OF FORAGE NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF B X N HYBRIDS BETWEEN GIANT BAJRA AND NAPIER GRASS
D. V. GATE, S. V. DAMAME* AND S. B. GORE
AICRP on Forage Crops & Utilization
Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth,
Rahuri-413 722 (M. S.), India
*(e-mail : shivajidamame@gmail.com)
(Received : 3 March 2018; Accepted : 25 March 2018)
SUMMARY
The present investigation was carried out to study forage nutritional quality of ten bajra x Napier hybrids (B x N hybrids) along with their eleven parents and four checks, in relation to dry matter, crude protein, cell wall constituent’s viz., acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre, hemi-cellulose, lignin and in-vitro dry matter digestibility. Out of ten crosses four hybrids were found statistically superior for various parameters studied viz., GB x GBN-2001-4-2, GB x FD-444, GB x GBN-2001-8 and GB x GBN-2001-10. The highest per cent dry matter was recorded in hybrids such as GB x FD-444, and GB x FD-436, whereas GB x GBN-2001-4-2 was higher for in vitro dry matter digestibility within the hybrids. A female parent Giant bajara recorded overall the lowest neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and the highest in vitro dry matter digestibility, whereas male parent TNCN-011 recorded the highest per cent crude protein.
Key words: Nutritional quality, dry matter digestibility, B x N hybrids