Relative palatability of woody forage species from the tropical dry forest using a cafeteria method

Abstract

The relative palatability of woody perennials' fodder has been proposed as the selection criteria for species to be integrated in livestock systems. For that purpose, 20 species with different nutritional characteristics, that grow in the tropical dry forest of Colombia, were evaluated. The woody perennials were managed under pruning, in plots established at the Agrosavia's Nataima Research Center. Fodder of those species was offered to five mature Blanco Orejinegro (BON) cattle for a total of 19 days, using a cafeteria method with each species exposed to animals for only 3 minutes. The assignment of species was in pairs, with a total of 190 pairs, resulting from the combinations of 20 species taking two at the same time, without replication. The results of the palatability trials identified nine species with very high and high palatability, which ordered in a descending manner were: Albizia niopoides, Leucaena leucocephala, Erythrina fusca, Guazuma ulmifolia, Gliricidia sepium, Tithonia diversifolia, Clitoria fairchildiana, Spondias purpurea and Spondias mombin. The pair of species that showed the highest palatability was A. niopoides-L. leucocephala; and the species frequently present in combinations with high intake was A. niopoides. It is concluded that there are several native species with high relative palatability, whose forage potential is unknown by technicians and ranchers, and the high palatability of some species already known was confirmed.