Silage made from leaves and petioles of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) supported better growth and feed conversion in crossbred cattle than silage made from maize stover

Tran Hoan Qui, Nguyen Trong Ngu¹, Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan¹ and Nguyen Thiet²

Sub-Department of Animal Husbandry, Animal Health and Fisheries of Dong Thap province, Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap Province, Vietnam
nthiet@ctu.edu.vn
¹ College of Agriculture, Can Tho University, Can Tho City, Vietnam
² College of Rural Development, Can Tho University, Can Tho City, Vietnam

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of replacing maize stover silage by Taro petiole and leaf (TPL) silage on the growth of crossbred cattle. The experiment was designed as a completely randomized block with 12 crossbred cattle (182±15 kg) with 4 treatments including 100% of maize stover silage (MS) and maize stover replaced by Taro leaf and petiole silage (TPL) at 25, 50, and 75%. The inclusion of 75% TPL silage in the diet resulted in higher feed intake and improved live weight gain and feed conversion.

Keywords: baby corn, cattle, maize stover, oxalate, taro petiole and leaf

Introduction

Taro or cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) is a potential tropical food crop because of its high yield of roots (or stems) and foliage. Taro is used as animal feed in all tropical countries including Vietnam. It is a plant that usually grows or naturally develops near the house, forests, ponds, streams, and canals (Buntha et al 2008). Taro leaves contain β-carotene, iron, and folic acid, which help fight against anemia and are an important source of proteins and vitamins (Sukamoto 2003). The restrictions in taro leaves are anti-nutrient factors such as cyanogenic glycosides, trypsin inhibitors, mimosine, goitrogens, oxalic acid, tannins, and saponins (Ogle 2006). Fresh taro leaves are rich in calcium oxalate (443-589 mg/100 g fresh weight) (Oscarsson and Savage 2007). Calcium oxalate causes itching on the skin and mouth. The content of calcium oxalate can be reduced by boiling or fermentation. During incubation, the oxalic acid decrease has been reported to range from 79 to 86% (Chittavong et al 2008). An appropriate ensiling method has been published recently by Hung et al (2020).

Taro leaf can replace up to 70-75% fishmeal protein with higher feed intake and N retention than 100% protein from fishmeal or fermented taro leaves (Buntha et al 2008). In Laos, taro leaves are commonly used as pig feed, and farmers harvest taro leaves in the wild or from their gardens and cook with maize, rice bran, cassava roots, and vegetables before feeding the pigs. Phengsavanh et al (2010) reported that the inclusion of 46% of taro leaves in the diets of native pigs in upland areas was the highest level of inclusion recorded for any plant material. Previous studies have shown that it is possible to feed pigs with taro leaf silage without adversely affecting their performance and health, and it can be used as a substitute for protein-rich animal feed fish meal (Buntha et al 2008) and soybean meal (Hang and Preston 2009). However, information on using taro petiole and leaf silage in cattle is still limited.

Materials and methods

Twelve male crossbred cattle (Brahman x crossbred Sindhi) with an average body weight of 182±15 kg at 12-14 months of age were allotted to a completely randomized block design, consisting of four treatments and three replicates. TPL silage substituted maize stover based on the formulation of 79.5% fresh TPL, 20% rice bran, and 0.5% salt during 30 days (Hung et al, 2020). All cattle were additionally fed 1 kg rice bran/head/day and the study lasted for 90 days. The treatments were:

TPL₀): 100% maize stover (Ms), baby corn harvest (Control)

TPL₂₅): 25% TPL silage + 75% Ms (based on DM)

(TPL₅₀): 50% TPL silage + 50% Ms (based on DM)

TPL₇₅): 75% TPL silage + 25% Ms (based on DM)

The ingredients and chemical composition of the experimental diets are presented in Table 1. Cattle were fed twice daily at 07:00 and 15:00 and had free access to water. All animals were kept in individual pens with cement floors. Cattle were vaccinated against Pasteurellosis, foot and mouth disease, and de-wormed before starting the experiment.

Feed and feed refusal were recorded daily. At the end of the study, all samples were analyzed for dry matter (DM), ash, and crude protein (CP) according to AOAC (2005). All animals were weighed at the beginning of the experiment and once a month throughout the experiment period. Measurements were DM intake, CP intake, body weight (BW) gain, and feed conversion ratio (FCR).

Statistical analysis

The data were subjected to analysis of variance using the General Linear Model procedure of Minitab software version 16.2.1. Tukey's pairwise comparisons (p<0.05) were applied to determine the differences between dietary treatments.

Results and discussion

TPL included up to 75% of the control diet resulted in better feed intake and live weight gain (Table 2; Figure 1).

Feed intake, live weight gain fed conversion were all improved as when there were fed silage with increasing proportions of Taro leaf and petiole silage.

The cattle ate increasing amounts of silage (Figure 1) when it was made by replacing baby corn (maize) silage with silage made from Taro leaf and petiole (Figure 1). Improvements were also recorded in live weight gain and feed conversion (Figures 2 and 3) when taro replaced maize as the source of silage.

Improvements were also recorded.

Figure 1. Effect of Taro silage on DM intake	Figure 2. Effect of Taro silage on live weigh gaing

Figure 3. Effect of Taro silage on feed conversion

Conclusions

• Silage of Taro leaves and petioles can replace up to 75% of maize stover (at baby corn harvest) for growing cattle with an increase in feed intake and improvement is body weight gain and feed conversion.

References

AOAC 2005 Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International. 18th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Ed. Arlington.

Buntha P, Borin K, Preston T R and Ogle B 2008 Effect of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaf silage as replacement for fish meal on feed intake and growth performance of crossbred pigs. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 20. http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd20/supplement/bunt3.htm

Chittavong C, Preston T R and Ogle B 2008 Ensiling leaves of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Shott) with sugar cane molasses. Livestock Research For Rural Development 20. http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd20/supplement/mala1.htm

Hang D T and Preston T R 2009 Taro (Colocacia esculenta) leaves as a protein source for growing pigs in Central Viet Nam. Livestock Research for Rural Development 21(10). http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd21/10/hang21164.htm

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Sukamoto L A 2003 Development of early maturing and leaf blight resistant cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) with improved taste. In Proceedings of final research coordinated meeting organized by the joint FAO/IAEA division of nuclear technique in food agriculture held in Pretoria, South Africa (pp. 19-23).