I. FUSARO1, A. PALMONARI2, G. CANESTRARI2, M. FUSTINI2, M. GIAMMARCO1, G. VIGNOLA1, M. CHINCARINI1, A. GRAMENZI1, L. FUSARO3 and A. FORMIGONI2
1 Veterinary Medicine Faculty, University of Teramo, 64 100 Teramo, Italy
2 DIMEVET, University of Bologna, 40 064- Ozzano dell’Emilia (Bo), Italy
3 Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
FUSARO, I., A. PALMONARI, G. CANESTRARI, M. FUSTINI, M. GIAMMARCO, G. VIGNOLA, M. CHINCARINI, A. GRAMENZI, L. FUSARO and A. FORMIGONI, 2016. The infl uence of irrigation management and genotype on fi ber content and in vitro digestibility of NDF in corn part plant. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 22: 906–911
In several Italian regions climatic conditions are often not adequate to produce corn (Zea Mays) without an effi cient irrigation strategy. Considering that forages quality is strictly related to fi ber digestibility, it becomes more important to understand how the irrigation system affects fi ber characteristic of the plants and it’s in vitro NDF digestibility (dNDF). The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of irrigation system on fi ber characteristic of corn part plants. Two genetics were selected to have high (HD) and low (LD) digestibility of NDF and were subjected to 2 different irrigation systems, furrow (F) and sprinkler (S). Eight whole plants per each treatment were harvested at 33% of dry matter. Immediately after harvesting, the plants were divided into fi ve fractions consisting of stalk, leaves and ears. The ears were then splitted into grain, cob and husk. All the samples were analyzed for fi ber fraction (NDF, ADF, ADL) and digestibility of NDF (dNDF). NDF and ADF were not different between genotype and irrigation management in leaves, while ADL was infl uenced both genotype (P < 0.01) and irrigation management (P < 0.05). NDF digestibility and kD showed signifi cant differences for genotype (P < 0.01) and for irrigation system effect (P < 0.05). ADL of HD genotype in stalks was lower (respectively 4.24% in sprinkler and 5.16% in furrow irrigation system) than in stalks of LD (respectively 5.75% in sprinkler and 5.84% in furrow irrigation system) (P < 0.001), while dNDF (P < 0.001) and kd (P < 0.05) were infl uenced only by genotype showing the higher digestibility of dNDF in HD genotype. Cobs were not different in NDF, ADF and ADL, while DM (P < 0.05) and dNDF (P < 0.001) were infl uenced by irrigation system.
We can conclude that higher fi ber digestibility of the plant is mainly due to the genotype effect, even if is possible to obtain better results combining appropriate genetic and irrigation system.