Field curing methods and storage duration affect the quality of hay from six rangeland grass species in Kenya

Introduction:Rangelands are important source of pasture for livestock in Kenya since time immemorial to pastoral households.However,seasonality on forage availability has been a big challenge in meeting animals’feed requirements.This demands harvest and storage of pastures for use during dry seasons.Hay making has been done to bridge this forage deficit periods.However,hay quality in the rangelands is affected by curing methods,phonological stage at harvest,and the storage duration.We therefore evaluated the effect of field curing and storage duration on the quality(Crude Protein(CP))of hay from six rangeland grasses in Kenya.Methods:The grasses evaluated are Chloris roxburghiana,Eragrostis superba,Enteropogon macrostachyus,Cenchrus ciliaris,Chloris gayana,and Sorghum sudanense.These grasses are the common species in the rangelands of Kenya and have been promoted in the past for hay making and reseeding interventions.The grasses were harvested at the mature flowering stage(12 weeks phenological stage),which is a period that provides high biomass without much effect on quality as practiced in the study area.The grasses were then cured in the field for 1,2,and 3 days before baling and stored indoors for 12,24,and 36 weeks.Samples were taken for CP content determination at the three periods following Macro-Kjeldahl Method.Results:There was significant decline(p≤0.05)in crude protein content in all the grass species with storage periods.Curing period did not affect the CP content for all the species at a given storage period;however,3 days curing changed the hay color from green to brownish which reduces palatability and consequently reduced feed intake.Storage period of over 12 weeks adversely lowered CP to less than 6% for all the species which is the required minimum level for animal under production and maintenance.S.Sudanense had significantly higher decline in CP after 24 weeks storage compared to the other species.Conclusions:Therefore,hay from the six grass species harvested at mature flowering stage(12-week phonological stage)and stored longer than 12 weeks supplies the animals with low CP.Also,to maintain palatability,1-2 days curing is recommended for the six grass species.

Effect of rangeland rehabilitation on the herbaceous species composition and diversity in Suswa catchment,Narok County,Kenya

Introduction:Land degradation is a serious environmental problem of our time.In Kenya,it is estimated that 30%of the total land mass is severely degraded.Suswa catchment within Narok County is a good example with gullies of over 25 m deep and 30 m wide.In response to the increasing land degradation in the area,the Sustainable Land Management(SLM)project rehabilitated the catchment through establishment of soil and water conservation structures such as cutoff drains,semicircular bunds,and water retention ditches.Despite the various rehabilitation approaches carried out,little research has been done to ascertain their effect on successful vegetation recovery.This coupled with the fact that many restoration approaches have failed in East Africa and Kenya in particular gave drive to the study.The objective of this study was to determine the effects of rangeland rehabilitation on herbaceous species composition and diversity in a severely degraded rangeland.Methods:To assess the diversity of aboveground herbaceous layer in the rehabilitated and degraded areas along a slope(upper,middle,and lower),line transect and quadrat count methods were used.Within each slope position,three 100-m-long transects were placed across the hill parallel to one another 30 m apart using a tape.The species hit,the closest species to the hit,and hits on bare ground were recorded.Along the same transects,1-m2 quadrats were placed 25 m apart and aboveground biomass determined by the use of the destructive method.In the determination of species richness,diversity,relative abundance,percentage cover,and species composition,the Shannon-Wiener diversity index was used.Data collected on vegetation attributes was subjected to analysis of variance(ANOVA)using Genstat and Tukey’s HSD post hoc used in means separation where F values were significant.Results:The results showed that percent cover(74.67%),aboveground biomass(1459 kg/ha),relative abundance,richness,composition,and diversity of perennial grasses significantly(P≤0.05)increased downslope and were higher in the rehabilitated area than in the degraded area.On the contrary,forbs and annual grasses were significantly(P≤0.05)higher within the degraded area compared to the rehabilitated area and increased upslope.Conclusions:In general,herbaceous species diversity,species richness,relative abundance,percentcomposition,biomass production,and percent cover of perennial grasses significantly increased downslopeand were higher in the rehabilitated area compared to the degraded area.On the contrary,the sameattributes for forbs and annual grasses were higher in the degraded area and increased upslope.The studyconcluded that effective rangeland rehabilitation has the potential to enhance vegetation regeneration andhence forage productivity.Conclusions:ln general,herbaceous species diversity,species richness,relative abundance,percent composition,biomass production,and percent cover of perennial grasses significantly increased downslopeand were higher in the rehabilitated area compared to the degraded area On the contrary,the same attributes for forbs and annual grasses were higher in the degraded area and increased upslope.The studyconduded that effective rangeland rehabilitation has the potential to enhance vegetation regeneration andhence forage productivity.