Potential of ensiling pineapple by-products as dairy cattle feed on organic certified farms

Summary

Two studies were conducted; Study I assessed the use and availability of feed resources under different cattle management systems on smallholder certified organic pineapple farms while study II investigated the effect of wilting organic pineapple by-products and inclusion levels of C. ensiformis foliage on silage chemical composition, fermentation characteristics and nutritive value. In study I, data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and focus group discussions. Farmers allocated more land (P<0.05) to organic pineapple production compared with livestock. Tethering was the commonest cattle management system. Fifty three percent of respondents reported using both natural pastures and crop residues as major dairy cattle feed resources while only 19% reported using elephant grass. Farmers reported high cost of concentrates and scarcity of feeds as their biggest challenges in dairy cattle production. Of the respondents, 51.4% conserved feed for their cattle but only as elephant grass fodder banks. As a coping strategy to feed shortages, majority (42.9%) of farmer scavenged for feed resources from both organic certified and nonorganic neighbouring farms which is contrary to organic livestock farming standards. In study II, wilting and increasing level of C. ensiformis foliage inclusion decreased (P<0.001) DM losses but increased (P<0.001) DM and CP content of silages. However, the effect of wilting on DM losses depended (P<0.05) on inclusion level of C. ensiformis foliage. Wilted silage had lower (P<0.05) ammonia nitrogen content compared with unwilted silages. In the unwilted silages, NH3-N content followed a quadratic trend (P<0.05) with increasing level of C. ensiformis inclusion. In both unwilted and wilted silages, lactic acid increased at a decreasing rate (P<0.01) with increasing levels of C. ensiformis inclusion. Metabolisable energy (ME), and net energy of lactation (NEL) increased at a decreasing rate (P<0.05) with increasing levels of C. ensiformis inclusion for the wilted silages. Maximum values for NEL in the wilted silages were at ~17% of the legume foliage inclusion. In vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) for the wilted silages followed a quadratic trend (P<0.05) with the highest recorded at ~17% level of C. ensiformis inclusion. It can be concluded that feed related challenges are a major limitation to smallholder dairying on certified organic pineapple farms. The optimal inclusion levels of C. ensiformis foliage into the wilted pineapple by-products overlapped within the range of 10- 17% for the best silage chemical composition, fermentation characteristics and nutritive value.