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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (4): 124-135.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2021035

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Effects of additive types and combinations on silage quality of whole-plant rape after harvesting and air-drying

Di ZHOU1(), Shuai YANG1, Xin-xin ZHANG1, Jing YUAN1, Yan-xia GAO2, Jian-guo LI2, Bo WANG3, Guang-sheng ZHOU3, Ting-dong FU3, Jun YE4, Li-guo YANG1,5(), Guo-hua HUA1,5()   

  1. 1.College of Animal Science and Technology,Huazhong Agricultural University,Wuhan 430000,China
    2.College of Animal Science and Technology,Hebei Agricultural University,Baoding 071000,China
    3.College of Plant Science and Technology,Huazhong Agricultural University,Wuhan 430000,China
    4.Hubei Province Cultivated Land Quality and Fertilizer Work Station,Wuhan 430000,China
    5.Hubei Province Buffalo Engineering Center,Wuhan 430000,China
  • Received:2021-01-26 Revised:2021-03-22 Online:2022-04-20 Published:2022-01-25
  • Contact: Li-guo YANG,Guo-hua HUA

Abstract:

The aim of study was to develop an effective additive formulation for ensiling whole-plant rape. A rape crop was harvested at the final flowering stage and air-dried in the field for 3-4 days, then ensiled as the moisture content dropped below 70%, with different additives used in different silage batches. Fermentation outcomes were evaluated for seven additive treatments: Control (no additive), a solid inoculum treatment (S), a liquid inoculum treatment (L), a solid inoculum+liquid inoculum treatment (SL), a solid inoculum+liquid inoculum+corn flour treatment (SLC), a solid inoculum+liquid inoculum+brown sugar treatment SLB, and a corn meal treatment (C). Sensory characteristics, chemical composition and animal rumen degradation rate were measured and data was evaluated using multivariate analysis. It was found that the sensory characteristics of the silage rape were excellent in all treatments, including the control. As judged by pH and moisture data, the SLC and SLB treatments were the most stable (P<0.05). Analysis of chemical composition showed that neutral detergent fiber (P>0.05) and acid detergent fiber contents (P<0.05) were lowest in the SLC treatment, and that the dry matter content was significantly higher in SLC than in other treatments (P<0.05). Results from rumen degradation of silage samples using the nylon bag method showed that the degradation of dry matter, crude protein, neutral and acidic detergent fiber in all treatments increased with digestion time (P<0.05). After 60 days fermentation, the rumen degradation rate of dry matter, crude protein and neutral and acid detergent fiber differed significantly (P<0.05) between additive treatments, with the SLC treatment having the highest degradation rate (72 h) (P<0.05). In summary, whole-plant rape harvested and air-dried to a moisture content under 70% made stable, high quality silage. Addition of S, L or more complex SLC additives mixed thoroughly with the chopped rape further increased the whole-plant rape silage nutritional value and rumen digestibility. The study provides technical data on the preservation of rape silage, which has great potential to help address the shortage of feed resources in the herbivore animal industries and support the conversion of “oil-to-feed”.

Key words: rape, silage, silage additives, rumen degradation rate