Sugarcane Production Based on Mineral and Organic Nitrogen Fertilizers for Ruminant Feeding

Sugarcane may be a potential feed source for ruminants in tropical and subtropical areas. An important factor that can influence the nutritional quality of sugarcane for animal feeding is nitrogen fertilization management, however, studies on this subject are still scarce. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen sources on the quality and productivity of sugarcane as a forage resource. The variety of sugarcane used was RB92579, with application of nitrogen (N) sources (urea, poultry litter, swine manure) and control (without N application). Stalk productivity and dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, lignin, Brix, NDF / Brix ratio, and in situ digestibility were analyzed during incubation periods of 6, 24, and 72 hours. At the end of the study, it was found that the N sources did not interfere with sugarcane stalk productivity (P> 0.05), with an average productivity of 102 t ha-1. The N treatments did not influence (P> 0.05) in the nutritional quality of sugarcane, when evaluating the contents of dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, lignin, Brix and NDF / Brix ratio. The dry matter degradation had an effect (P <0.05) for the different N sources and incubation times, where poultry litter and swine manure treatments showed higher values for degradation at 72 hours of incubation. The different N organic sources did not interfere in the chemical composition and productivity of the sugarcane culture, however it presented better results in the in situ degradability of the dry matter. This, it can be recommended that mineral nitrogen fertilizers can be replaced by organic fertilizers.