139
and signs of Mn toxicity in Welela and Ibumila villages (Mtengeti et al. 2015). All
assessed macro- and micronutrients except Fe and Mn were rather low in supporting
growth, production and reproduction of a dairy cattle (NRC 2001) but are within the
reported range (Mtengeti et al. 2008; Li et al. 2004; Vaswani et al. 2016). The farmers, however, use maize stover in bulk, leaving the animals to select the more nutritious parts of the stover especially the leaves. Li et al. (2004) reported twice as much
N, P and Ca concentration (1.59%, 0.11% and 1.05%) in maize stover leaf as
compared to whole maize stover (0.65%, 0.05% and 0.40%). Also farmers will supplement the dairy animals with maize bran, multipurpose tree legume leaves and
grasses planted in contour bands along the homestead farm plot. This means maize
stover can just be used as a bulk basal diet and not as the main feed for dairy cattle.
Fig. 1 Some macronutrients’ concentration in maize stover (% DM)
Fig. 2 Some micronutrients’ concentration in maize stover (mg/kg)
Productivity and Chemical Composition of Maize Stover and Rice Straw Under…
and signs of Mn toxicity in Welela and Ibumila villages (Mtengeti et al. 2015). All
assessed macro- and micronutrients except Fe and Mn were rather low in supporting
growth, production and reproduction of a dairy cattle (NRC 2001) but are within the
reported range (Mtengeti et al. 2008; Li et al. 2004; Vaswani et al. 2016). The farmers, however, use maize stover in bulk, leaving the animals to select the more nutritious parts of the stover especially the leaves. Li et al. (2004) reported twice as much
N, P and Ca concentration (1.59%, 0.11% and 1.05%) in maize stover leaf as
compared to whole maize stover (0.65%, 0.05% and 0.40%). Also farmers will supplement the dairy animals with maize bran, multipurpose tree legume leaves and
grasses planted in contour bands along the homestead farm plot. This means maize
stover can just be used as a bulk basal diet and not as the main feed for dairy cattle.
Fig. 1 Some macronutrients’ concentration in maize stover (% DM)
Fig. 2 Some micronutrients’ concentration in maize stover (mg/kg)
Productivity and Chemical Composition of Maize Stover and Rice Straw Under…