Some considerations about sugar cane in animal feed

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(Edited)
Dear readers, as has been mentioned many times in the agricultural sector, sustainable production methods need to be implemented to meet the demand for agricultural and livestock food, of course, such methods should implement practices that allow preserving natural resources and biodiversity of agroecosystems. In the specific case of livestock systems, the intensive use of forage monocultures and poor management practices on these crops, mostly pastures, produce a decrease in green biomass and the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil.

The aforementioned decrease in forage material can lead to a decrease in the production of the cattle herd, either milk or meat, but there are alternatives for feeding promising plant species that can help reduce problems such as food deficit in livestock production units due to the degradation of established pastures, among these species is sugar cane that could reduce the costs for the purchase of concentrated feed. According to what was reported by Herrera (2003), in our country Venezuela there is an area planted with this crop of approximately 101,350 hectares distributed in different regions nationwide and of which only 10% is dedicated to animal feeding.

In terms of green biomass yield, Urdaneta and Borges (2008) indicate that in Venezuela sugar cane has a high yield of green forage between leaves and stem with values of approximately 250 tons per hectare per year with cutting intervals of six months. However, in tests carried out by the National Institute of Agricultural Research in 2002, yields ranging from 85 to 95 tons of green fodder per year with cutting intervals of 4 to 6 months were observed. With the knowledge of these data, researchers such as Urdaneta (2005), pointed out that when the yield of green fodder from sugar cane is between 65 and 158 tons per hectare per year, in the dry season about 36 to 88 cattle per hectare can be maintained, requiring approximately 1.8 tons of that green matter for an animal of 450 kg for 90 days, with animals of lower weight logically a greater amount can be fed.

However, it is important to mention that when sugar cane is used in the feeding of grazing cattle in times of low forage availability, its nutritional quality could be improved, for example, adding protein, which can be dissolved urea in water and mixed with the chopped cane or failing that using alternative sources such as the foliage of other protein-rich plants belonging to the legume family such as Leucaena leucocephala, Gliricidia sepium, Manihot esculenta among others. Also, some minerals can be added to the mentioned mixture.

As mentioned above, despite there being a large amount of acreage planted with cane, only a small percentage is used as an alternative to sustain animal feed in dry seasons. In that sense, they have begun to create hybrids of which it would be interesting to evaluate their yields and know their adaptability in agroecosystems of the region; that would undoubtedly reduce expenses in concentrated foods that have exaggerated prices.

Final considerations
Dear readers, studying other foraging alternatives and knowing their yields can improve the cost-benefit ratio (productivity) of livestock production units. Several studies indicate that by evaluating the behavior and establishment of different sugar cane cultivars in potential areas for this crop, it offers viable alternatives to increase cane yields in tons per hectare at a lower cost and therefore cover animal feed in critical times.

Bibliographic references
  • National Institute of Agricultural Research. (INIA) (2002). Research Methodologies for Sugarcane Varieties. State Agricultural Research Center Bramon. Tachira. Venezuela. 25- 35 pp.

  • Herrera, D. (2003). Cultivated area and sugar cane production at the national level. V National Congress of Research in the cultivation of sugar cane. Carora, Lara State. Venezuela.

  • Urdaneta, J and Borges, J (2008). Determination of the Biomass and Dry Matter Yield in ten Forage sugar cane cultivars at two Cutting Frequencies. Memories XIV Congress of Animal Production (AVPA). Maracaibo. Zulia State. Venezuela. 16-25 pp

  • Urdaneta, J and Borges, J. (2005). Behavior of five fungal pathologies in 14 cultivars of sugar cane (Saccharum spp hybrido) for foraging purposes in Yaracuy, Venezuela. Magazine. Faculty. Agronomy. (LIGHT). 25: 455-469.

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