NUTRIENT COMPOSITION, RUMEN DEGRADATION CHARACTERISTICS AND FEEDING VALUE OF WATERLOGGED GRASS (BRACHIARIA HUMIDICOLA) FOR RUMINANT FEED IN VIETNAM

The objective of this study was to investigate the chemical composition, rumen degradation characteristicand feeding value of Brachiaria humidicola grass – a waterlogged grass in Vietnam at three harvest timesas ruminant feed, including pre-flowering, flowering and post-flowering stage. The nylon bag method wasused to investigate the degradability of DM and OM. The feeding values were evaluated. Results showedthat the DM and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) content of the pre-flowering stage (18.78 and 61.87%) werelower than that of the flowering stage (20.09 and 60.99%) and post-flowering stage (22.49 and 63.46%)(P<0.001). The crude protein (CP) content of the pre-flowering stage (8.57%) was higher than that of theflowering stage (8.28%) and higher than the post-flowering stage (6.19%) (P<0.001). The rumen DM andOM degradation of the grass at the pre-flowering stage was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of theflowering and post-flowering at four hours in the rumen, and at other times, it was the same (P>0.05).