Rice Straw Fermented with White Rot Fungi as an Alternative to Elephant Grass in Goat Feeds

The objective of thispaper was to evaluate the possibility of substituting elephant grass (Pennisetum\ud purpureum) with rice straw that has been fermented with white rot fungi in goat. A total of 12 goats were\ud randomly assigned to feed on one of treament diets according to completely randomised block design. The\ud animals were divided into three blocks according to their initial body weight. The treatments were: R1 = 100%\ud Elephant grass, R2 = 70% Elephant grass + 30% fermented rice straw, R3 = 30% Elephant Grass + 70% fermented\ud rice straw and R4 = 100% fermented rice straw. Parameters measured were dry matter and organic matter\ud digestibility, feed consumption, average daily gain and feed eficiency of goats. Data analysis indicated that the\ud DM and organic matter digestibility significantly decreased when the level of fermented rice straw increased\ud in the ration. Inclusion of fermented rice straw up to 70% in the ration did not signifcantly alter DM and OM\ud digestibily but substituting grass with 100% fermented rice straw markedly decreased DM and OM\ud digestibilities. The best feed efficiency was found in the goats given R3 (0.15) followed by R2 (0.10), R1 (0.09)\ud and R4 (0.04). In conclusion, rice straw that has been fermented using white rot fungi can be used to subtitute\ud elephant grass up to 70% in the ration of goats. Future work is to optimize the use of agro-industrial waste into\ud quality feed with fermented by white rot fungi.\ud Key words: Fermented rice straw White Rot Fung