NUTRIENT CONTENT ASSESSMENT OF DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF SOYBEAN FORAGE AS SUPPLEMENTAL ANIMAL FEED IN SEMI-ARID NIGERIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.4996Keywords:
Soybean forage, varieties, mineral content, feed resource, assessmentAbstract
Forages from seven different varieties of soybean were collected from the research farm of the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Minjibir, Kano Station to study the nutritional
content of these forages. The result revealed that the CP, CF, EE, ADF, NDF and ash contents were
significantly (P<0.05) different in the forages from the different soybean varieties whereas the content
of DM was similar among the varieties. Macro (Ca, Mg, K and Na) and micro (Fe) nutrients with the
exception of P, analyzed in these forages were significantly (P<0.05) lower in all the soybean
varieties. It was concluded that adequate mineral supplementation is essential when soybean forages
are used as feed resources for livestock and thus, recommended that further research should be carried
out to determine minerals that are deficient in other crop residues
