| Abstrakt: |
Elephant grass is the most widely cultivated type of grass by livestock farmers in Indonesia. However, the livestock performance of the elephant grass-feeding system is still low due to the amount of protein lost during the degradation process in the rumen. Provision of plants containing high protein and tannin can reduce protein wastage and increase the digestibility and protein consumption in cattle-fed elephant grass. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Leucaena leucocephala, Lannea coromondalica, and Gliricidia sepium as substitute leaves on dry matter consumption (DMC) and dry matter digestibility (DMD) of elephant grass basal rations. Four female Kacang goats (12 months old) were arranged in a Latin Square Design with 4 treatments and 4 replications (10 days for adjustment period and 7 consecutive days for data collection). The treatments applied were the levels of three leaves as substitutes for elephant grass basal ration, i.e., R1=Elephant grass 100% (as a control), R2=Elephant grass 60%+Gliricidia sepium 40%; R3=Elephant grass 60%+Leucaena leucocephala 40%; and R4=Elephant grass 60%+ Lannea coromondalica 40%, respectively. The results showed that the substitution leaves of Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium, and Lannea cromondalica in the elephant grass feed had a significant effect (P<0.05) on DMC and DMD, respectively. The average of as follows DMC (R1=0.19; R2=0.28; R3=0.29; and R4 0.26 kg/head/day, respectively and DMD was R1=0.91%; R2= 0.89%; R3=0.86%; and R4=0.88% respectively. The substitute of the tannin-containing plants in the elephant grass basal goat rations, on the one hand, could increase the dry matter consumption but lower the digestibility of feed on the other hand. There is a tendency of better value on the digestibility of the inclusion of 40% Lamtoro (Leucaena leucocephala) leaves in basal rations of Elephant grass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
