Agronomic Characteristics, Chemical Composition and In vitro Gas Production of Sugarcane Cultivars (Saccharum spp.) for Feeding Ruminants

The aim of this work was to evaluate the agronomic characteristics, chemical composition and in vitro gas production of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) cultivars used in ruminant feed. The experimental design was a randomized block containing seven treatments and three replications totaling 21 plots. The cultivars RB835436, RB925211, RB925345, RB937570, RB945961, RB955970 e SP91-1049 was evaluated for dry matter, dry matter yield, stalk percentage, stalk tons per hectare, plant height, stalk diameter, number of tillers per linear meter, mass per stem, soluble solids content (BRIX), NDF/BRIX ratio and tons of sucrose/ha, total digestible nutrients, digestible energy, metabolizable energy, net energy and in vitro digestibility of organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent, of digestion and In vitro gas production of non-fibrous carbohydrates, latency time, digestion rate and gas production of fibrous carbohydrates, and in vitro digestibility of organic matter. There was a significant difference between the cultivars regarding the neutral detergent fiber content, in vitro digestibility of organic matter, total digestible nutrients, digestible energy, net energy, degradation rates of fibrous and non-fibrous carbohydrates and latency period. There was a negative correlation between stem percentage and NDF/BRIX and positive correlation between in vitro digestibility of organic matter and total digestible nutrients. The results were submitted to analysis of variance and mean test by Scott-Knott and Pearson's correlation analysis. The statistical program used was SAEG 2000. The RB835486 variety was superior to the other cultivars, as it presented 93.28% of stem, 57.5% of in vitro digestibility of organic matter, NDF / BRIX ratio of 2.68, 43.78% NDF, latency period 2.86h and fibrous carbohydrate degradation rate of 2.26% per hour. Therefore, this cultivar was better indicated for animal feeding between May and July in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil.