Effects of Addition of Two Levels of Urea on the Nutritive Value of Molasses Treated Tomato Straw Silage

Abstract

The aim of this study wasto determine the nutritive value of tomato straw ensiled for one month with two levels of urea and a level of molasses: 3% urea + 5% molasses, and 6% urea + 5% molasses and 0.0% urea +5% molasses (control). Chemical composition of all treatments was determined by laboratory analysis.An in vitro two stages digestibilitywas carried out and physical characteristics of the silage were measured. The data were subjected to analysis of variance using complete randomized design.The study showed that the final pH was decreased and temperature was increased but not significantly (P > 0.05), while crude protein increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) with increase in the level of urea and due to incubation from 9.8%, 14.21%and 19.3% in the control, 3% and 6% urea after fermentation respectively. Crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were significantly (P ≤ 0.05)decreased, while acid detergent lignin isn't significantly (P > 0.05) decreased .The digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and neutral detergent fiber was improved significantly (P ≤ 0.05) by addition of urea and fermentation .The study concluded that the addition of urea improves the nutritive value of tomato straw silages in terms of high protein, low fiber contents and increased digestibility, so we recommend adding different levels urea to tomato straws silage to improve digestibility.