Table 4.
Fermentation characteristics of Napier grass silage after 90 days of ensiling
| Fertilization | Additives | N | pH | Fermentative characteristics | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WSC | LA | NH3-N | ||||
| (g kg−1 DM) | (g kg−1 TN) | |||||
| No slurry | No-additive | 3 | 4.4 | 14.0 | 30.2 | 45.9 |
| Molasses | 3 | 4.2 | 29.4 | 29.9 | 14.8 | |
| Maize meal | 3 | 4.3 | 20.7 | 21.7 | 41.4 | |
| Brown sugar | 3 | 4.1 | 21.0 | 31.1 | 22.1 | |
| Slurry | No-additive | 3 | 4.4 | 14.8 | 26.1 | 37.8 |
| Molasses | 3 | 4.2 | 28.3 | 30.9 | 13.3 | |
| Maize meal | 3 | 4.5 | 15.6 | 16.8 | 46.4 | |
| Brown sugar | 3 | 3.9 | 22.2 | 29.5 | 15.9 | |
| SEM | 0.27 | 3.91 | 6.66 | 12.03 | ||
| Fertilization | ||||||
| No slurry | 12 | 4.3 | 21.3 | 28.2 | 31.0 | |
| Slurry | 12 | 4.3 | 20.2 | 25.8 | 28.3 | |
| SEM | 0.14 | 1.96 | 3.33 | 6.02 | ||
| Additive | ||||||
| No-additive | 6 | 4.4 | 14.4b | 28.1 | 41.8a | |
| Molasses | 6 | 4.2 | 28.9a | 30.4 | 14.0b | |
| Maize meal | 6 | 4.5 | 18.1ab | 19.2 | 43.9a | |
| Brown sugar | 6 | 4.0 | 21.6ab | 30.3 | 19.0ab | |
| SEM | 0.19 | 2.77 | 4.71 | 8.51 | ||
| Significance | ||||||
| Fertilization (F) | ns | ns | ns | ns | ||
| Additives (A) | ns | * | ns | * | ||
| F x A | ns | ns | ns | ns | ||
WSC, water soluble carbohydrate; LA, lactic acid; NH3-N, Ammonium Nitrogen, N, number of observations; g kg−1 DM, grams per kilogram dry matter; g kg−1 TN, grams per kilogram total nitrogen; SEM, standard error mean.
Column means with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.
*P < 0.05; ns, not significant: P > 0.05.