Treatment of Rice Straw with Urea-Molasses and the Effect on Proximate Composition and In Vitro Digestibility

Abstract

Experiment was conducted to assess the impact of urea–molasses treatment of rice straw on the proximate composition and in vitro gas production. Samples of milled rice were treated with 0.5% urea (T₂), 7.0% urea (T₃), 1.5% urea (T₄) and 2.0% urea (T₅) (w/v) to which was added constant quantity of molasses. T₁ is untreated and serves as the control. The result obtained showed a significant (P > 0.05) increased in crude protein from 11.71(T₁) to 13.11 (T₅). The NDF decreased significantly (P < 0.05) with the increased addition of urea molasses from 75.12 (T₁) to 48.78 (T₅). Ether extract range from 4.99(T₅) to 5.57(T₄), CF from 4.67(T₅), to 5.65(T₁). The fermentation of the insoluble but degradable fraction (bml) increased proportionately with gas volume with values ranging from 6ml (T₁) to 26ml (T₅) and 14ml (T₁) and 30ml (T₅) respectively. The result observed in this study shows that urea-molasses treated could be used to improve the nutrient content of rice straw for ruminant.