101-2022

Livestock Research for Rural

Development
 
 
 
The peer-reviewed international journal for research
into sustainable developing world agriculture

Published by Fundación CIPAV, Cali, Colombia

Volume 34, On-line Edition

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Issue 11 (November)
 

ISSN 0121-3784
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Livestock Research for Rural Development, Volume 34, Number 11,

November 2022 ISSN 0121-3784

Contents
Papers:
97. Evaluation of the effects of Spinosum Seaweed on the growth performance of
broiler chickens: A case study in Zanzibar; F A Kessi and L C Mwaipopo

98. Productive performance of dairy Mambí de Cuba cows in a silvopastoral

system; Onel López-Vigoa, Roberto García-López, Luis Lamela-López, Luis M
Fraga-Benítez, Arelis Hernández-Rodríguez, Yenny García-Orta, Tania
Sánchez-Santana and Jesús M Iglesias-Gómez

99. Modeling of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the application of bovine

excreta to the soil; W F Ordoñez, S L Posada-Ochoa, D M Bolívar and R
Rosero-Noguera (In spanish)

100. Productive behavior of bovine males in silvopastoral system with Tithonia

diversifolia; J Iraola, Yenny García, L M fraga, D Gutiérrez, Delia M Cino, M
Barros-Rodríguez, J L Hernández and D Albelo (In spanish)

101. The Siboney de Cuba cattle: a review of studies conducted on the breed; Anel
Ledesma-Rodríguez, Filippo Cendron, Dervel Felipe Díaz-Herrera, Yuset
Fonseca-Rodríguez, Odalys Uffo Reinosa and Mauro Penasa

102. Effect of replacement of fishmeal-based diet by full-fat or defatted black soldier

fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) meal in diets on performance of Asian seabass
(Lates calcarifer) juvenile in fresh and brackish water; Pham Thi Phuong Lan,
Le Duc Ngoan and Nguyen Duy Quynh Tram

103. Growth and initial development of native trees in a silvopastoral arrangement in

La Guajira, Colombia; Darwin Fabian Lombo Ortiz, Jaime Andrés Arias Rojas,
Milton Rivera Rojas, Adelina Rosa Caballero Lopez, Clara Viviana Rúa
Bustamante and Cristian Camilo Hernandez Martinez (In spanish)

104. Plant species used by Melipona eburnea bees in seasonally-flooded

agroforestry systems in the Peruvian Amazon; Cesar Delgado, Paul V A Fine
and Gladis Atías

105. Silage made from leaves and petioles of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) supported
better growth and feed conversion in crossbred cattle than silage made from
maize stover; Tran Hoan Qui, Nguyen Trong Ngu, Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan and
Nguyen Thiet

106. Optimization of induced breeding of Clarias gariepinus using different sources

of water; Ataguba Gabriel Arome, Okomoda Victor Tosin and Ukpong Prince
 101-2022
Livestock Research for Rural Development 34 (11) LRRD LRRD Guide for preparation of LRRD Citation of this
2022 Search Misssion papers Newsletter paper

Silage made from leaves and petioles of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) supported better
growth and feed conversion in crossbred cattle than silage made from maize stover
Tran Hoan Qui, Nguyen Trong Ngu1, Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan1 and Nguyen Thiet2
Sub-Department of Animal Husbandry, Animal Health and Fisheries of Dong Thap province, Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap Province,
Vietnam
nthiet@ctu.edu.vn

1 College of Agriculture, Can Tho University, Can Tho City, Vietnam

2 College of Rural Development, Can Tho University, Can Tho City, Vietnam

Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of replacing maize stover silage by Taro petiole and leaf (TPL) silage on the growth
of crossbred cattle. The experiment was designed as a completely randomized block with 12 crossbred cattle (182±15 kg) with 4
treatments including 100% of maize stover silage (MS) and maize stover replaced by Taro leaf and petiole silage (TPL) at 25, 50, and
75%. The inclusion of 75% TPL silage in the diet resulted in higher feed intake and improved live weight gain and feed conversion.

Keywords: baby corn, cattle, maize stover, oxalate, taro petiole and leaf

Introduction
Taro or cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) is a potential tropical food crop because of its high yield of roots (or stems) and foliage. Taro
is used as animal feed in all tropical countries including Vietnam. It is a plant that usually grows or naturally develops near the house,
forests, ponds, streams, and canals (Buntha et al 2008). Taro leaves contain β-carotene, iron, and folic acid, which help fight against
anemia and are an important source of proteins and vitamins (Sukamoto 2003). The restrictions in taro leaves are anti-nutrient factors
such as cyanogenic glycosides, trypsin inhibitors, mimosine, goitrogens, oxalic acid, tannins, and saponins (Ogle 2006). Fresh taro
leaves are rich in calcium oxalate (443-589 mg/100 g fresh weight) (Oscarsson and Savage 2007). Calcium oxalate causes itching on
the skin and mouth. The content of calcium oxalate can be reduced by boiling or fermentation. During incubation, the oxalic acid
decrease has been reported to range from 79 to 86% (Chittavong et al 2008). An appropriate ensiling method has been published
recently by Hung et al (2020).

Taro leaf can replace up to 70-75% fishmeal protein with higher feed intake and N retention than 100% protein from fishmeal or
fermented taro leaves (Buntha et al 2008). In Laos, taro leaves are commonly used as pig feed, and farmers harvest taro leaves in the
wild or from their gardens and cook with maize, rice bran, cassava roots, and vegetables before feeding the pigs. Phengsavanh et al
(2010) reported that the inclusion of 46% of taro leaves in the diets of native pigs in upland areas was the highest level of inclusion
recorded for any plant material. Previous studies have shown that it is possible to feed pigs with taro leaf silage without adversely
affecting their performance and health, and it can be used as a substitute for protein-rich animal feed fish meal (Buntha et al 2008) and
soybean meal (Hang and Preston 2009). However, information on using taro petiole and leaf silage in cattle is still limited.

Materials and methods

Twelve male crossbred cattle (Brahman x crossbred Sindhi) with an average body weight of 182±15 kg at 12-14 months of age were
allotted to a completely randomized block design, consisting of four treatments and three replicates. TPL silage substituted maize
stover based on the formulation of 79.5% fresh TPL, 20% rice bran, and 0.5% salt during 30 days (Hung et al, 2020). All cattle were
additionally fed 1 kg rice bran/head/day and the study lasted for 90 days. The treatments were:

TPL0): 100% maize stover (Ms), baby corn harvest (Control)

TPL25): 25% TPL silage + 75% Ms (based on DM)

(TPL50): 50% TPL silage + 50% Ms (based on DM)

TPL75): 75% TPL silage + 25% Ms (based on DM)

The ingredients and chemical composition of the experimental diets are presented in Table 1. Cattle were fed twice daily at 07:00 and
15:00 and had free access to water. All animals were kept in individual pens with cement floors. Cattle were vaccinated against
Pasteurellosis, foot and mouth disease, and de-wormed before starting the experiment.
 Table 1.
Nutritional value of ingredients and the experimental diets
DM, DM basis ME, Mcal/kg
Items
% CP, % CF, % of DM
Maize stover 22.8 10.7 29.1 2.27
Rice bran 91.2 16.5 13.8 2.76
Taro petiole and leaf
14.8 13.5 20.0 2.50
silage
TPL0 33.8 10.2 28.9 2.28
TPL25 32.3 11.1 26.7 2.34
TPL50 30.9 12.0 24.5 2.39
TPL75 29.9 12.9 22.2 2.45
DM: Dry matter; CP: Crude protein; CF: Crude fibre; ME: Metabolizable
Energy

Feed and feed refusal were recorded daily. At the end of the study, all samples were analyzed for dry matter (DM), ash, and crude
protein (CP) according to AOAC (2005). All animals were weighed at the beginning of the experiment and once a month throughout
the experiment period. Measurements were DM intake, CP intake, body weight (BW) gain, and feed conversion ratio (FCR).

Statistical analysis
The data were subjected to analysis of variance using the General Linear Model procedure of Minitab software version 16.2.1. Tukey's
pairwise comparisons (p<0.05) were applied to determine the differences between dietary treatments.

Results and discussion

Table 2.
Effect of different levels of TPL silage on intake, body weight gain and feed conversion
ratio
Treatment
SEM p
Control TPL25 TPL50 TPL75
Initial body weight (kg/head) 181 181.3 182 182 5.10 1.000
Final body weight (kg/head) 237 242.3 245 245.2 4.85 0.630
DM intake (kg DM/100 kg BW) 2.46c 2.79bc 3.16ab 3.51a 0.12 0.003
CP intake (kg CP/100 kg BW) 0.30c 0.35bc 0.41ab 0.47a 0.01 0.001
Daily weight gain (kg/head) 0.62b 0.68a 0.70a 0.70a 0.01 0.001
Feed conversion ratio 8.20b 8.64ab 9.55ab 10.7a 0.45 0.030
abc
Means in the same row without sharing a letter are different at
p<0.05.

TPL included up to 75% of the control diet resulted in better feed intake and live weight gain (Table 2; Figure 1).

Feed intake, live weight gain fed conversion were all improved as when there were fed silage with increasing proportions of Taro leaf
and petiole silage.

The cattle ate increasing amounts of silage (Figure 1) when it was made by replacing baby corn (maize) silage with silage made from
Taro leaf and petiole (Figure 1). Improvements were also recorded in live weight gain and feed conversion (Figures 2 and 3) when taro
replaced maize as the source of silage.

Improvements were also recorded.

Figure 1. Effect of Taro silage on DM intake Figure 2. Effect of Taro silage on live weigh gaing


Figure 3. Effect of Taro silage on feed conversion

Conclusions
Silage of Taro leaves and petioles can replace up to 75% of maize stover (at baby corn harvest) for growing cattle with an
increase in feed intake and improvement is body weight gain and feed conversion.

References
AOAC 2005
Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International. 18th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Ed. Arlington.

Buntha P, Borin K, Preston T R and Ogle B 2008

Effect of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaf silage as replacement for fish meal on feed intake and growth
performance of crossbred pigs. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 20.
http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd20/supplement/bunt3.htm

Chittavong C, Preston T R and Ogle B 2008

Ensiling leaves of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Shott) with sugar cane molasses. Livestock Research For Rural
Development 20.
http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd20/supplement/mala1.htm

Hang D T and Preston T R 2009 Taro (Colocacia esculenta) leaves as a protein source for growing pigs in Central Viet Nam. Livestock Research for Rural
Development 21(10).
http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd21/10/hang21164.htm

Hung L T, Lan L T T, Thu N T A, Thiet N, Mo T T H, Nhan N T H and Ngu N T 2020

Effects of wilting and rice bran supplementation on the quality of taro
(Colocasia esculenta) leaf and petiole silage. Livestock Research for Rural Development 32(5).
http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd32/5/ntngu32082.html

Ogle B 2006
“Forage for pigs: nutritional, physiological and practical implication”. Workshop-seminar “Forages for Pigs and Rabbits” MEKARN-CelAgrid,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 22-24.
http://www.mekarn.org/proprf/ogle.htm

Oscarsson K V and Savage G P 2007

Composition and availability of soluble and insoluble oxalates in raw and cooked taro (Colocasia esculenta var. Schott)
leaves. Food Chemistry 101(2), 559-662.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.02.014

Phengsavanh P, Ogle B, Stur W, Frankow-Lindberg B E and Lindberg J E 2010

Feeding and performance of pigs in small-holder production systems in
Northern Lao PDR. Tropical AnimalHealth and Production, 42, 1627–1633.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-010-9612-4

Sukamoto L A 2003
Development of early maturing and leaf blight resistant cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) with improved taste. In Proceedings of
final research coordinated meeting organized by the joint FAO/IAEA division of nuclear technique in food agriculture held in Pretoria, South Africa (pp. 19-23).

Received 10 September 2022; Accepted 6 October 2022; Published 1 November 2022