Distribution and Chemical Composition of Browse Plants of Egbado North Rangeland

Abstract

Four herds of cattle were used to investigate the distribution and chemical composition of browse plants in Egbado North of Ogun State. The results showed that a wide variety of browse plants abound-trees and shrubs. Glyricidia sepium and Ficus exasperata were the most frequent trees while Manihot utilissima was the most frequent shrub. They all had high dry matter (%DM), crude protein (%CP), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) but low crude fibre (%CF). Since they are available all year round they present a good source of dry season feeds.

Keywords: Cattle, browse plants, distribution, chemical composition.