Dry Matter Yield and Nutritional Composition of Natural Pasture in East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region

Table 4

Chemical composition of natural pasture at different agroecologies and grazing sites.

Agroecology	DM (%)	Ash (%)	OM (%)	CP (%)	NDF (%)	ADF (%)	ADL (%)
Highland	92.17 ± 0.34^b	5.06 ± 0.68^c	87.10 ± 0.76^a	7.12 ± 0.44^a	66.15 ± 0.96^a	50.70 ± 0.38^a	8.18 ± 0.91^a
Midland	91.71 ± 0.36^b	6.54 ± 0.71^b	85.17 ± 0.79^b	7.63 ± 0.50^a	65.63 ± 0.78^a	51.99 ± 0.55^a	8.20 ± 0.94^a
Lowland	93.00 ± 0.36^a	8.96 ± 0.68^a	84.04 ± 0.76^b	6.90 ± 0.44^a	65.14 ± 0.78^a	47.67 ± 0.38^a	7.45 ± 0.91^a
Overall	92.29 ± 0.34^b	6.85 ± 0.71^b	85.44 ± 0.76^b	7.24 ± 0.44^a	65.97 ± 0.78^a	49.80 ± 0.38^a	7.94 ± 0.91^a
value	0.0041	0.0005	0.0119	0.8102	0.8281	0.7309	0.6859
Effect of grazing on chemical composition of natural pasture
Protected	92.56 ± 0.25^a	7.20 ± 0.67^a	85.35 ± 0.34^a	6.69 ± 0.06^a	66.4 ± 0.29^a	51.96 ± 0.20^a	8.32 ± 0.12^a
Communal	92.00 ± 0.24^a	6.51 ± 0.34^a	85.49 ± 0.34^a	7.73 ± 0.59^a	63.75 ± 0.26^a	47.96 ± 0.19^a	7.63 ± 0.16^a
Overall	92.28 ± 0.24^a	6.86 ± 0.34^a	85.43 ± 0.34^a	7.24 ± 0.06^a	65.08 ± 0.29^a	49.96 ± 0.20^a	7.98 ± 0.16^a
value	0.0909	0.2994	0.8198	0.4647	0.4909	0.2771	0.3518

Means within the same column with different superscript letters are significantly different (); DM (%): percentage of dry matter; OM: organic matter; CP: crude protein; NDF: neutral detergent fiber; ADF (%): acid detergent fiber; ADL (%): acid detergent lignin.