An Analysis of nutritional composition, species composition and diversity of different pastures for enhanced dairy production, Mashonaland East province
- Author
- Mangwanda, Lynnette P.
- Title
- An Analysis of nutritional composition, species composition and diversity of different pastures for enhanced dairy production, Mashonaland East province
- Abstract
- An experimental study was done at Grasslands Research Station, Marondera, Zimbabwe between January and March (2025). The reason being that climate change disrupts Zimbabwe's pasture ecosystems, compromising quality, milk production, and increasing feed costs. Sustainable pasture management strategies are urgently needed to restore productivity and sustainability to the dairy industry. The study overall objectives were to evaluate the nutritional composition of different pastures at Grasslands Research Station, four pastures were compared i.e Established combo, Monopasture, Natural combo and Silvopastures. Species composition and nutritional content i.e. Crude Protein, Neutral Detergent Fibre, Acid Detergent Fibre, Ash and Dry Matter were determined. Species composition was done using Peter Ivy method and nutrient composition was done using proximate analysis. Results were analysed using GenStat version 18 and means were separated using Fisher’s test. There was no significant difference in nutritional composition among the four different pastures. CP p<0.05, ADF p=0.013, NDF p=0.555, Ash p<0.001 Variation in protein content means some pasture types are more suitable for pasture based dairy production than others. The studies show that established combo pastures can enhance dairy production due to high CP content and fibre content where a balance of grasses and legumes are incorporated into the pastures.
- Date
- June 2025
- Publisher
- BUSE
- Keywords
- Climate change
- Species
- Supervisor
- Mr T.N.C Mangwiro
- Item sets
- Department of Animal Sciences
