Abstract:
This study investigated the effect of bag and bucket silos on the chemical composition and quality
characteristics of silage made from maize, sorghum, and Coimbatore-3 (CO-3) grass cultivated in the
eastern province of Sri Lanka. Each fodder was harvested at 50% of the flowering stage, chopped,
and ensiled into the aforementioned silo types. After 30 days, sensory parameters, chemical, and
fermentation characteristics of silage such as pH, lactic acid (LA), dry matter content (DM), ash, crude
protein (CP), crude fiber (CF) ether extract (EE), water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC), and ammonia
nitrogen (NH3-N) were measured. The results revealed that the texture of sorghum and maize was
better than CO-3 grass and all silages were free from molds. Silo type had a non-significant (p<0.05)
effect on the color and texture of the silage of three forage cultivars. The bag silo had the better
sensory characteristic compared with the bucket silo for each fodder. The DM and the CF content of
silage were significantly (P< 0.05) higher in the bag silo. The lowest LA and the highest pH content
were observed in CO-3 silage compared to sorghum and maize in both silos. The highest WSC% of
maize (4.86%, 3.67%), sorghum (4.29%, 3.18%), and CO-3 (2.22%, 2.21%) silages were observed in
bag silo followed by bucket silo respectively. The present research revealed that both physical and
chemical properties of silages made out of bag silo were better in quality than bucket silo and the
silage produced from the bag recommended feeding ruminants as it contains a higher livestock
nutritional value.
