CLASSIFICATION OF ERYTHRINA PROVENANCES BY RUMEN DEGRADATION CHARACTERISTICS OF DRY-MATTER AND NITROGEN

Some species of the genus Erythrina have considerable potential as for age, but information on their nutritional value is scanty. The objecti ve of the study was to define groups of Erythrina provenances based on rumen degradation parameters for dry matter and nitrogen which would be useful in the selection of provenances for detailed nutritional or tree improvement studies. Degradation parameters (i.e. soluble fractio n (a), slowly degradable fraction (b), rate of degradation (c) and ext ent of degradation (a + b) were estimated for twenty Erythrina provena nces belonging to seven species (E. abyssinica, E. bentipoeme, E. bruc ei, E. burana, E. melanacantha, E. poeppigiana and E. variegata)). The data were subjected to principal component and cluster analyses for g rouping, and the 20 provenances were placed into four distinct cluster groups. Provenances of E. brucei and E. abyssinica belonged to three clusters, whereas provenances of E. burana and E. variegata were confi ned to one cluster. Using extent of dry matter and nitrogen degradatio n values of 71 and 86% respectively, as a forage quality index, member s of clusters 1 and 2 (i.e. E. abyssinica, ILCA 10606; E. brucei, ILCA 10579, 10625, 10628, 10637, 10643; E. burana 10575, 10641, 12157; E. melanacantha ILCA 10574 and E. variegata ILCA 14991 and 14994), appear ed to be superior in quality to their counterparts in clusters 3 and 4 . The results suggested existence of intra and inter-species variation in rumen degradation characteristics for dry matter and nitrogen with in the genus Erythrina.