Effects of Urea Levels and Treatment Durations on Chemical Composition and In Vitro Dry Matter Digestibility of Maize Stover

Abstract

Effects of urea level and treatment duration on the chemical composition and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of maize stover was studied by treating the stover of improved maize variety with 4, 5 or 6% urea levels for 1, 2 or 3 weeks under laboratory condition of 25^oC. There were
significant differences in crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and IVDMD both among the urea levels and the treatment durations. The highest CP content of 16.9% was observed for the stover treated with 6% urea followed by 15.9% for the stover treated with 5% urea. With regard to
treatment durations, there was no difference (p>0.05) in CP content between the 2 and 3 weeks treatment durations. Interaction between the two factors was significant (p<0.05) only for NDF and IVDMD. Treating the stover with 5% urea for a period of 2 weeks resulted in 76.6% NDF and 61.2% IVDMD both of which were not significantly different (p>0.05) from treating the stover with 6% urea for either 1, 2 or 3 weeks. Therefore the former combination of urea level and treatment duration was recommended to be optimum to treat maize stover.