Ecological and nutritive assessment of indigenous browse species as feed for ruminant animals in grazing areas of Choma (Sourthern province of Zambia)

Abstract

An ecological and nutritive assessment of five indigenous browse tree species was carried out to determine the usefulness of their leaves as dry season feed for ruminants in Choma District in Southern Zambia. Vegetative assessment was done to measure the specie's frequency and density using the quadrant method. Proximate analysis and in vitro dry matter digestibility test was used to assess the nutritive value of the leaves of the browse species. The four trees with the exception of Parinari curatellifolia were dominant in the grazing lands of Choma. Julbemardia globiflora had the highest density of 61%, followed by Brachystegia spiciformis with 31%, Dichrostachys cinerea with 3%, Piliostigma thonningii with 3% and Parinari curatellifolia with 2%. Crude protein were similar for Julbernadia globiflora and Brachystegia spiciformis with 11.70±0.14 and 11.42±0.31 respectively but were higher than fox Dichrostachys cinerea and Piliostigma thonningii (p<0.05). Crude fibre was found to be lowest in Dichrostachys cinerea with 18.16±0.16% which also contained the highest amount of tannins with 4.10±0.06% (p<0.05). Piliostigma thonningii had the highest levels of calcium of 1.76±0.03% and Dichrostachys cinerea had the least amount with 1.35±0.18% (p<0.05).The leaves of Brachystegia spiciformis had the highest digestibility of 67.95±0.85%, followed by Dichrostachys cinerea with 66.03±1.95%, Julbernadia globiflora with 49.47±1.06%, and Piliostigma thonningii with 24.82±2.62% (p<0.05). Overall, the browse species assessed are abundant and have a good potential to supply nutritious and fairly digestible feeds suitable for ruminant feeding in the dry season.

Key words: Crude fibre, in vitro dry matter digestibility, specie's density, tannins