Alternative Sources of Leaf Meals for Ruminants

News source: Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development
For further information, see Atega, T., Alinea, C., Rayos, A., and Robles, A. Leaf meals of Gliricidia sepium and Samanea saman as protein supplements for goats. College, Laguna: DTRI-UPLB, Philippines., 2003-03-01

Leafmeals from Leguminous Trees

Feeding ruminants during the dry season is crucial when trees and shrubs are scarce. While concentrates may be given, smallhold farmers usually cannot afford to buy these. Hence, researchers studied trees and shrubs as alternative leaf meals for ruminants.

Specifically, Gliricidia sepium (gliricidia) and Samanea saman (acacia) were studied as alternative leaf meals. Gliricidia is a medium-sized, deep-rooted perennial tree, commonly used for fences, hedgerows, charcoal production, and feed for ruminants. On the other hand, acacia reaches a height of 20-25 m with spreading branches and pinnate leaves. The pods are fleshy with sweet mesocarp, and high in energy showing high digestibility when used to replace rice bran in feeding heifers.

Preparation of Leaf Meals

Leaf meals were prepared by drying leaves of gliricidia and acacia including browseable twigs in the forage dryer at 65oC and grinding through a 20-mesh sieve.

Crude Protein Content

The acacia ration had the highest crude protein (CP) content followed by the concentrate and gliricidia. Volume of milk yield was highest from those fed with concentrate but there were no significant differences among the treatment means for the rations, as well as in milk composition in the rations. Protein content was lowest for concentrate supplementation but highest for milkfat. Income from milk was higher when the animals were fed with leaf meals than with concentrate. Feeding leaf meals at 50% of the ration dry matter was recommended to reduce the cost of feeding and enhance utilization of gliricidia and acacia leaf meals as feed for ruminants.

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