Study on mixed silage of forage ramie and Pennisetum purpureum (Schum.) in different proportions

In the current study, ramie mixed silage with Pennisetum purpureum (sweet elephant grass) was stored for 45 days according to the mass percentage of ramie was 100 (CK), 80 (R8), 60 (R6) and 40 %(R4), respectively. The sensory evaluation and the analysis of nutrient composition and fermentation quality of forage ramie mixed silage were carried out to find the best mixing ratio of forage ramie mixed silage with sweet elephant grass. The results showed that the fermentation quality of mixed silage improved gradually with the decrease of ramie proportion, and the comprehensive sensory evaluation was all good grade 1 except CK. The nutrient composition of mixed silage of forage ramie and sweet elephant grass with different proportions changed greatly. CP content decreased with the increase of sweet elephant grass supplemental level, and there were significant differences among all treatment groups (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in NDF content among all groups. There were no significant differences in ADF content between CK and R-8, R-8 and R-6 (P>0.05), but there were significant differences between CK and R6, R4 and all treatment groups. There was no significant difference in Ash content among all groups (P>0.05). The pH value of control group (CK) was higher than that of other treatment groups, but there was no significant difference in pH value among all treatments (P>0.05). In terms of lactic acid, acetic acid and NH3-N/TN, there were no significant differences between R-8, R-6 and R-4 (P>0.05), but there were significant differences between them and CK. There was no significant difference in propionic acid treatment. No butyric acid was found in any treatment group. In this study, it was found that the quality of ramie mixed silage was obviously better than that of single silage, and the quality ratio of forage ramie was 60%.