Evaluation of Maize Accessions for Nutrients Composition, Forage and Silage Yields

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the yield of forage, silage and nutrients composition of two maize accessions: West Atlantic Seed Alliance 1 (WASA1) and an accession from Shika tagged (SHIMAZ). The maize seeds were planted in plots of 5 m x 5 m (25 m2) size with four replicates for each accession. The results showed that, there was no significant (P > 0.05) difference between the accessions for plant height and number of leaves at 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after sowing (WAS), but leaf area index (LAI) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in SHIMAZ accession at 6 and 10 WAS. The number of leaves per plant, green leaves, leaf area and forage yield at 91, 105 and 119 days after sowing (DAS) were not significant (P > 0.05) in the two accessions of maize, but leaf area and LAI were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in WASA1 accession.. The percentage dry-matter (DM) content was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in WASA1, although leaf, and stem ratios were significantly (P < 0.01) higher at various stages of harvest. The crude protein (CP) and nitrogen free-extract (NFE) were significantly (P < 0.01) higher in WASA1 accession while crude fibre (CF) was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in SHIMAZ. The proximate components (ash, EE and CP) and NDF were significantly (P < 0.01) higher in WASA1 silage, but NFE and ADF were higher (P < 0.05) in SHIMAZ accession.