UTILIZATION OF STOVER FROM SIX IMPROVED DUAL-PURPOSE GROUNDNUT(ARACHIS HYPOGAEA L.) CULTIVARS BY WEST AFRICAN DWARF SHEEP

The study was set up to evaluate fodder from six dual-purpose groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars for animal performance and rumen dry matter (DM) degradability characteristics. Thirty-six West African dwarf (WAD) sheep were used to evaluate the utilization of groundnut stover from six improved dual-purpose cultivars (M170-80I; M554-76; M572-80I; RMP-12; UGA-2; UGA-5) as sole diets over 70 d. Rumen DM degradability characteristics were studied using four WAD sheep in a completely randomized design. Dry matter, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL) and metabolisable energy (ME) contents were similar while, cultivar RMP-12 recorded the highest (P < 0.05) hemicellulose (64 g/kg DM and cellulose (396 g/kg DM) contents. Organic matter (58.1 to 71.9 g/kg metabolic weight (W0.75)/d) and NDF (32 to 41 g/kg W0.75/d) intake were significantly different (P < 0.05). The digestibility o