Abstract

NAVAS PANADERO, Alexander. Fodder banks of Moringa oleifera under tropical humid forest conditions. Cienc. Tecnol. Agropecuaria [online]. 2019, vol.20, n.2, pp.207-230. ISSN 0122-8706.  https://doi.org/10.21930/rcta.vol20num2art:1457.

Extreme climatic events can affect forage production and efficiency in livestock production systems. Grass species show high vulnerability under these conditions, so it is important to look for alternatives for livestock systems to adapt. The performance of Moringa oleifera in tropical humid forest ecosystems was established as a forage alternative in feeding programs. Moringa oleifera was evaluated during one year in forage banks at the Matapantano farm, located in Yopal, Casanare (Colombia). To that end, the effect on the chemical characteristics and the macrofauna of the soil, on the production of dry matter, leaf: stem biomass ratio and nutritional quality of the entire plant and its fractions (leaf and stem) were measured. A completely randomized design and descriptive statistics were used for soil variables, and nonparametric analysis of variance for forage production and leaf: stem ratio using the Infostat® software. Increases in the contents of minerals, organic matter, organic carbon, and edaphic macrofauna were found. Differences were also observed in dry matter production of the plant fractions with higher leaf production; likewise, differences in the production of dry matter between cuts, as well as in the leaf: stem ratio were found. The forage showed a good nutritional quality finding that the leaves were the best quality fraction. M. oleifera withstood the drastic changes in climatic conditions that occurred during the study. Given its performance in forage production and quality, we conclude that M. oleifera can be considered as an alternative for strategic supplementation in livestock systems in tropical humid forest ecosystems.

Keywords : animal feeding; environmental impact; forage; livestock; nutrition; silvopastoral systems.

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