Common bean residue as additive in sugarcane silage

Resumen

The sugarcane has a high content of soluble carbohydrates, thereby resulting in many losses during its
fermentation. Thus, it is necessary to use an additive that reduces the losses in the nutritional value of the forage during the
ensiling process. The objective was to evaluate the use of common bean residue during the sugarcane ensiling process over
the silage nutritional quality and fermentation characteristics. Were used 20 silos made of PVC pipes, in which the residue
of crude and previously ground common bean processing (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were added to newly chopped sugarcane
in the proportions of 0; 50; 100 and 150 g kg-1 of fresh weight. A randomized design was used and the regression analysis
was performed according to the level of common bean residue in silages. The losses from the ensiling process, the aerobic
stability of the material, and the silage chemical composition, pH, NH3
-N and in vitro dry matter digestibility were analyzed.
The inclusion of increasing levels of common bean residue until 150 g kg-1 improved the quality of silages, since there was
a reduction in gaseous losses, improvement in food composition and in vitro dry matter digestibility, without impairing the
silages pH. The common bean residue can be used as additive in sugarcane silage until 150 g kg-1 fresh weight for improving
silage fermentation characteristics and dry matter digestibility.