Abstract

ARELLANO VICENTE, Isaí et al. Characterization of the direct use of stover maize (Zea mays L.) for bovine. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2016, vol.7, n.5, pp.1117-1129. ISSN 2007-0934.

The maize production in the Frailesca, Chiapas is closely related to livestock through the practice known locally as “rastrojeo”, so the aim of this work in 2015 was to characterize the direct use of corn stover for cattle. The availability of components corn stover, utilization, stocking, botanical composition and quality of the selected animal behavior and diet was evaluated. The experimental design was completely random and mean comparison was performed using the Tukey test. The 14 different components rastrojeo was found. Corn components in the selected diet were higher (p< 0.05) at the end of rastrojeo, while the share of African star grass and weeds were higher (p< 0.05) at the start. An increase in protein levels in the diet at the end of rastrojeo was observed, which could be related to a greater proportional contribution of the components of corn to the diet (62.35%) compared to the contribution of weeds and grasses (37%). The statistical differences (p< 0.05) between times evaluated rastrojeo activities (grazing), foraging and walking, which is related to the adjustment made by the animals in their grazing strategy found. The high diversity of plant components in stover, gives importance in terms of improvements in the quality of the animal's diet, product selection is a greater chance of it.

Keywords : availability; animal behavior; diet quality; diet composition.