Nutritive composition of Eragrostis superba Peyr and Cenchrus ciliaris L. collections from the ASALs of Kenya

摘要

AstudywasconductedinthesouthernrangelandsofKenyatoestablishthenutritivevalueofecotypesofCenchrusciliarisandEragrostissuperba.AtotalofelevenecotypesforC.ciliarisandnineforE.superbacollectedfromsitesrepresentativeofmediumtolowpotentialagro-ecologicalzones(IIItoVI)wereestablishedatKALROKibokoresearchcentreinarandomizedcompleteblockdesign.Plantsamplescollectedwereanalysedforinvitrodrymatterdigestibility(INVDMD),crudeprotein(CP),Crudefibre(CF),ashcontentandpercentdrymatteryield(%DM).SignificantvariationswereobservedamongC.ciliarisecotypes.KBK2andKLF2collectionshadhigherashcontentthantherestoftheecotypesatp0.05.Also,KBK2hadhighervalues(p0.05)thanTVT1inINVDMDwithnovariationbetweentherestoftheecotypes.Positivecorrelations(p0.05)wererecordedbetweenINVDMDwithstemthicknessandleafbreadthandCPwithleaflength,plantheight,headingtimeandstemthickness.LatefloweringandrobustecotypesofC.ciliariswerehigherinCPwhileCFnegativelycorrelated(p0.05)withplantheightandleaflength.SignificantvariationsbetweenE.superbaecotypesresultedin3majorclustersthatcombinedecotypesfromdifferentsites.Kiboko(KBK2)andKilifi(KLF1)collectionsclusteredtogetherwithhighCF,CPandINVDMDwhileTVT3wasgroupedalonewithhigherCPandlowCFatp0.05.MeanashcontentforC.ciliaris(13.6%)washigherthanE.superbamean(8.6).Thetwospecieshadnodifferenceintheotherfournutritivevaluecomponents.Significantvariationsexistedamongthestudycollectionsthatcouldpotentiallybeexploitedtomeetdifferentfeedrequirements.MorphologicaltraitscouldbeusedtoselectforhighINVDMDorCPlevelsamongandwithinC.ciliarisecotypes.SelectionforlowCFshouldtargetshorterecotypesofC.ciliariswithshorterleaves.