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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (6): 60-72.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2025267

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Effects of silage additives on the quality of whole crop maize silage produced from plants irrigated with livestock wastewater

Zhi-hao LIU1(), Wen-long LI2, Chen ZHANG2, Mei-ying LIU1(), Ya TAO2()   

  1. 1.College of Resources and Environmental Sciences,Inner Mongolia Agricultural University,Key Laboratory of Agricultural Ecological Security and Green Development at Universities of Inner Mongolia Autonomous,Hohhot 010018,China
    2.Grassland Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,Key Laboratory for Model Innovation in Forage Production Efficiency,Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs,P. R. China,Hohhot 010010,China
  • Received:2025-07-01 Revised:2025-09-15 Online:2026-06-20 Published:2026-04-13
  • Contact: Mei-ying LIU,Ya TAO

Abstract:

Whole crop maize (Zea mays) silage is an important source of roughage for ruminant production. Livestock wastewater contains large amounts of many nutrients required by crops. The aims of this study, therefore, were to determine whether plants irrigated with livestock wastewater produced better silage than those irrigated with groundwater, and to determine the effects of different silage additives. Whole-plant silage maize irrigated with livestock wastewater (W1) or groundwater (W2) were used as raw materials for the following treatments: natural silage (CK), silage with added Qingzhubang (A1), silage with added Xianmu 1152 (A2), and silage with added Zhuanglemei (A3). After ensilage for 3 and 80 days, the bags were opened and sampled to determine the nutritional components and fermentation quality of the silages. It was found that irrigation with livestock wastewater significantly increased soil available nutrient contents, resulting in a significant decrease in the dry matter content of silage maize raw materials and a significant increase in the content of crude protein and acid detergent fiber. Livestock wastewater irrigation and different additives significantly affected the nutritional quality and fermentation quality of whole crop maize silage, and the effect of the interaction between the two factors was significant. Based on nine indicators at the early and stable stages of silage fermentation, a grey correlation analysis showed that W1A1 (silage maize grown with livestock wastewater and addition of Qingzhubang) was the optimal treatment. In summary, adding Qingzhubang to whole-plant silage maize grown under livestock wastewater irrigation conditions improved the silage quality of ‘Fengdan 189’ silage maize after 80 days, yielding superior results compared with natural silage produced from plants irrigated with groundwater. These findings provide a practical reference for the rational utilization of livestock wastewater and the screening of suitable silage maize additives.

Key words: livestock wastewater, whole crop maize silage, silage additive, fermentation quality