Forage Yield and Quality of Desmodium dichotomum Accessions in Eastern Amhara, Ethiopia

Bouffordia dichotoma (Willd.) Ohashi et al. [syn. Desmodium dichotomum (Willd.) DC], family Fabaceae, is recognized by farmers (locally called Chimero) in Eastern Amhara Region, Ethiopia as a valuable livestock feed. This forage is growing as spontaneous intercrop with sorghum or maize crop. It is an herbaceous self-regenerating legume growing in a wild state. Short-listed accessions were undergoing for preliminary variety trial. In order to determine forage yield and quality of Desmodium dichotomum, a field experiment was carried out using Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications in year 2020. Plots were harvested to determine Dry Matter (DM) yield and leaf to stem weight ratio. Forage samples from each replicates were harvested and grounded using Wiley Mill, to pass through a 1 mm screen. The ground tissue was then analyzed for moisture, Crude Protein (CP), Crude Fiber (CF), crude fat, total ash and mineral concentrations. The highest mean DM yield was recorded for accession no. 37708 (10.78 ton/ha) followed by accession 37709 (7.7 ton/ha) while the lowest was 2.84 ton/ha (accession 2003). The highest CP concentration occurred in accessions no. 37708 and 37709 (23.9%), followed by accession no. 37702 (23.3%), while the lowest value of CP was recorded for accession no. 37715 (20.5%). A considerable concentration of mineral element was observed among the tested accessions. According to the results accession no. 37708, 37709 and 37705 can be considered as a good source of forage.