Piloting locally made micro-silos to monitor the quality of ensiled forages in Rwanda

Understanding the silage fermentation processes is critical for improving adoption by farmers in semi-arid regions. This study aimed to test the use of a locally constructed micro silo mechanism with identified suitable forage species as an affordable quality check to evaluate the silage fermentation stages and effect on silage nutrient composition in the semiarid eastern part of Rwanda. Four silage treatments (two mono-grass and two grass-legume mixtures) were prepared in duplicate microsilos at two stations, yielding 24 total replicates. Fermentation was monitored for six weeks. The treatments included the following steps: 1) two mono-grass (Brachiaria mulatomulato/Panicum coloratum) treatments and two grass x legume mixtures (Brachiaria mulatomulato x Desmodium distortum; Panicum coloratum x Desmodium distortum). Quantitative data were statistically analyzed with 95% CIs. The results indicated a consistent decrease in dry matter (DM, %) due to fermentation losses. At silage maturity (D48), the average ammonia content [NH4 + -N (%)], ammonia-nitrogen, crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) were 0.08 ± 0.05%, 10.02 ± 2.61%, 62.92 ± 7.82 and 37.72 ± 5.78, respectively. As suggested in the results, silage made of 100% grass had relatively higher NDF, ADF, pH, and DM levels, suggesting that grasses and legumes mixtures had better fermentation characteristics than mono-grass silages, hence more suitable for silage in semi-arid regions. Furthermore, the use of microsilos for monitoring silage fermentation demonstrated a high consistency, yielding replicable quality-fermentation parameter results. This demonstrates the utility of microsilos as a cost-effective and maneuverable tool for both on-station and on-farm silage quality evaluation.