REQUIREMENT OF BACTERIAL INOCULANT AND UREA ADDITION FOR ENSILING OF DESERT GRASS LASIURUS-SCINDICUS

To ascertain the requirement for bacterial inoculant and urea addition in the ensiling of desert feeds and forages, desert grass Lasiurus sc indicus was ensiled in laboratory silos for 90 days in five treatments with differential addition of urea (1% and 2% on D.M. basis), molasse s (8% on D.M. basis) and homofermentative lactobacillus culture (LAB) (6% on D.M. basis) in the form of buttermilk (1.8 x 10(6) cells ml-1). The addition of bacterial inoculant altered the fermentation during t he initial period of ensiling and lactic acid levels were higher in th e final silage. With LAB additions, intense metabolic activity, as sho wn by rapid degradation of sugars, marked reduction in pH and higher i nitial production of lactic acid compared to silage without LAB inocul ant, was significant (p < 0.01). Addition of urea at the rate of 1 and 2% increased the crude protein content of the silage from 4.63% (untr eated) to 10.43% (1% urea) and 15.83% (2% urea).