Nutritional Characteristics of Silage and Hay of Pearl Millet at Four Phenological Stages

In dry land cropping of semiarid regions is important to harvest forage as early as possible in order to avoid frost damage incidence. The possibility of advancing, depend on the forage quality when harvested at early growth stages and the method used to preserve it. The objective of this study was to evaluate the productivity and nutritive value of pearl millet harvested at four different stages of maturity for Silage (S) and Hay (H) methods of conservation. A randomized complete block design with five replications in a split plot outline was used for the methods of forage conservation. The open pollinated variety ICMV-221 was used. The ages of maturity at harvest were: Boot stage (B), female Flowering (F), Milk stage (M) and Dough stage (D). The production of total Dry Matter (DM ha(-1)) increased with maturity (p<0.002). In contrast, DM from re-growth was higher (p<0.0001) when forage was cut at B stage. This led to the total DM ha(-1) resulted similar throughout four stages of maturity. During haymaking, there was a loss of grain by fauna which affected most of the variables studied. Protein Content (PC) varied (p<0.01) from 6.93-11.35% with lowest values during M and D hay stages. The highest NDF, ADF and lignin content were observed during M and D hay stages. Apparent digestibility of dry matter was higher in silage than hay. Age of cutting only affected the digestibility of hay. It was concluded that the stage of maturity of pearl millet did not affect the quality of silage showing silage generally better nutritional value than hay. The loss of grain of haymaking in this study indicates that in the presence of fauna (lagomorphs, rodents and birds), pearl millet is adequate for haying only at booting and flowering stages. Re-growths were stronger in booting, compensating lower production of dry matter from the main stem during early cuttings.