How a silage trial with grass and cassava could be established.

Dear readers, in the previous article we addressed aspects related to the elaboration of silages with alternative plant species such as the paspalum virgatum grass that is considered as a weed by producers for its low protein values and the yucca that is a plant whose leaves have an adequate protein value and that could serve to complement the paspalum virgatum silage in terms of protein contribution, then a brief sketch will be made on how we could establish a test to determine if both species can be ensiled.

To begin with, it can be pointed out that an experimental design needs to be implemented, where one or more independent variables are intentionally manipulated, in order to analyze the consequences that the manipulation has on one or more dependent variables, in the case of silage, a trial can be established with 3 or more treatments that could be the proportions of the species, in this case paspalum and yucca, for example, as shown in the following table.

To establish the test, in the case of Bighead grass, an area should be delimited on the surface where it is sown in which a uniformity cut is made 10 cm from the ground and from there it can be given a time of 21 days, which according to the data presented by Rodríguez (2013), is an appropriate time for the plant to develop properly, in addition to achieving a balance between the protein and fibrous contents; on the other hand, the biomass to be obtained from yucca leaves can be taken from an established crop for commercial purposes from which the upper third of the plant will be used once it is harvested, since according to Gil (2015), it is the recommended part for animal feed.

Once the aforementioned harvest point of the species is reached, the dry matter (DM) of the phyto-mass to be ensiled can be determined, to ensure adequate levels of DM (30%). Then micro silos of one kilogram (1 kg.) can be implemented; for the elaboration process, each species is given to be cut, with a length of approximately 3 to 5 cm, the biomass after chopped is fractionated into 3 portions to perform the mixing of the species according to the treatments.

Then, after mixing the species, the containers previously identified by treatments, with a capacity of 1 kg, are filled, which must be manually pressed to extract the largest amount of air present, to then seal them as tightly as possible, to keep them in an open environment for fermentation in an approximate time of approximately 62 days.

The variables that can be evaluated in the test to determine that the fermentation in the process is correct are the following characteristics: smell, color, humidity and texture, which can be submitted to a panel of experts in the area, for this the quality scoreboard with the levels of excellent, good, regular and bad proposed by Ojeda, Esperance, Milera and Cáceres (2006) is used.

n addition, with a thermometer and a peachimeter the temperature and the degree of acidity or basicity of the samples can be evaluated. For the determination of the dry matter, the sample is taken in an oven at 60°C until a constant weight is reached.

Dear readers, with these tests different proportions can be evaluated in search of a better result, in addition, they can also be tested with different plant species that help improve the quality and palatability of Paspalum virgatum and after obtaining the results Implement extension plans that allow spreading this technology to small and medium producers.