Resumen

URDANETA, July. Uso de la caña de azúcar y follaje de Gliricidia sepium en la producción  de leche y ganancias diarias de peso en la época seca. Zootecnia Trop. [online]. 2004, vol.22, n.3, pp.221-230. ISSN 0798-7269.

In order to evaluate the effect of sugar cane and foliage of Gliricidia sepium on milk production (MP) and daily weight gain (DWG) in the dry season, an experiment was carried out in the Veroes county, Yaracuy State, Venezuela. The evaluation was made up in 18 cows double purpose during the half phase of suckling lactation period in 14 female calves. Both groups were put under an experimental aleatory design, and in the MP, the gross margin (GM) as a variable for the economic analysis. Treatments were as follows: MP T0: grazing (control), T1: 6 kg of clean sugar cane cut into very small pieces + 6 kg of foliage of Gliricidia sepium + grazing; T2: 6 kg of clean sugar cane cut into very small pieces + grazing. Period of evaluation was 62 days for the MP and 120 days for DWG, both with 10 days of adaptation. The mixture of sugar cane and legume for MP and DWG did not show significant differences (P> 0.05) among treatments with an average of 5.98 kg milk/cow/day and 665 g/animal/day for T1, respectively. The GM showed that concentrated increased the costs of production in 0.21 US $/kg of milk. It is concluded that the mixture contributed with the increment of choices of feeding of double purpose cattle in Yaracuy State and a better use of the existing forage trees species.

Palabras clave : sugarcane; leguminous trees; feeding of bovines.