Abstract:
The experiment was conducted at Haramaya University compound, to evaluate three
beneficial local microorganism (BLM) harvesting protocols and the effect of application
rate and ensiling period of barley straw (BS) with beneficial local microorganism solution
on its silage quality. The three procedures Niva, Rodrigueze and Davenport were used for
production of beneficial local microorganism solution with three replication in a
completely randomized design for each treatment (procedures) for experiment one. The
quality of the beneficial indigenous microorganism solution was evaluated by assessing
the pH and microbial population per unit solution. All the procedures were effective at
p<0.05. From the three methods of BLM production Davenport procedure was the best
one (p<0.05) in pH and microbial population. The pH, Lactic Acid Bacteria, Yeast,
Photosynthetic bacteria, Fermenting fungi and Actinomycetes were significantly vary
across all treatments solution and lower pH was observed in Davenport solution whereas
except the Yeast and fermenting fungi, highest microbial population was observed in the
Davenport solution. The BLM stock solution produced by Davenport procedure was used
for the preparation of silage from barley straw after activation and dilution for twenty one
days. The silage was made from BS soaked in water overnight, inoculated with BLM at
application rate (AR) of 250, 500 or 750mL/kg (AR250, AR500 and AR750, respectively) and
packed in plastic bags for 14, 21 or 28 days (EP14, EP21 and EP28, respectively). At the
end of ensiling period the bags were withdrawn and the silages were subjected to physical
appraisals, pH measurement, and chemical and in-vitro digestibility analysis. The colour,
odour, texture and presence of mold of all the silages were nearly similar and of good
quality and fungus was not observed. But the odor and color of BS ensiled for 14 days and
inoculated at a rate of 250mL/kg BLM was different from that of BS ensiled for 28 days
and inoculated at a rate of 750ml/kg. The pH values of the silages were 3.94, 4.51 and
4.95 for EP14, EP21 and EP28 respectively. In all types of silages, treatment affected the
chemical composition through decreasing OM (914.09, 910.22 and 905.6) and NDF
(277.81, 257.62 and 254.09) and increasing the ash (72.44, 75.38 and 78.62 and CP
(56.32, 54.02 and 52.84) for EP14, EP21 and EP28 and AR250, AR500 and AR750, respectively.
Cold water soaked BS ensiled for 14 days inoculated with BLM at a rate of 250mL/kg was
found to have better nutritional quality than those ensiled for 21 and 28 days at rates of
500 and 750mL/kg application rates. Therefore, it could be concluded that increasing
ensiling period and application rate of BLM affects the silage quality. Hence, further study
is recommended to verify the optimum rate lower than 14days and250mi/kg EP and AR of
BLM on the quality of barley straw silage.
