BOTANICAL COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE-VALUE OF THE AVAILABLE FORAGE ANDDIET SELECTED BY WATER-BUFFALOS IN BRACHIARIA-HUMIDICOLA PASTURE

Aiming to evaluate the botanical composition and nutritive value (crud e protein-CP and in vitro organic matter digestibility-IVOMD) of the a vailable forage and diet selected by water buffaloes in B. humidicola pasture, an experiment was carried out in Belem, PA, Brazil. Diet samp les were taken from esophageal fistulated water buffaloes and the avai lable forage was taken by cut. The botanical composition of the diet s ubsamples was sorted into four parts: leaves (L.), stems (S), dead mat erial (D) and other plants (OP). The experimental design was a complet ely random one for pasture data and a randomized block for animal diet . The availability of S,D and total forage, the botanical composition, and the nutritive value of the diet and available forage were affecte d by season and month of the year. L% in the diet was higher, while S % and D % were smaller. CP % and IVOMD of diet were higher than L and S. The results showed that water buffaloes graze selectively as the ot her ruminants.