ABSTRACT
Sesame production and composition compared to conventional forages

Diego Sousa Amorim1, Ricardo Loiola Edvan2, Romilda Rodrigues do Nascimento2*, Leilson Rocha Bezerra3, Marcos Jácome Araújo2, Alex Lopes da Silva4, Luciana Viana Diogénes3, and Ronaldo Lopes de Oliveira5
 
Sesamum indicum L. has the potential to be cultivated as a forage plant in hot and dry climate regions, and it can be used to increase the food security of a herd. The objective of this study was to evaluate growth, production, and chemical composition of S. indicum compared with conventional forages used for silage production. The experiment used a randomized complete block design with split-plots related to time and four replicates per treatment. The plots consisted of four treatments (Zea mays L., Helianthus annuus L., Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br., and S. indicum), and the subplots were two evaluation periods (2014 and 2016 harvests). Dry forage biomass production differed among the species in the 2014 harvest with values of 25 530, 12 190, 9408, and 9250 kg ha-1 for Z. mays, S. indicum, H. annuus, and P. glaucum, respectively. Maize had a greater variation in forage production between the 2 yr, followed by S. indicum. There were higher dry matter (DM) contents (P < 0.0001) for Z. mays and S. indicum (404.5 and 251.7 g kg-1, respectively). Regarding crude protein, H. annuus and S. indicum had levels of 167.2 and 117.7 g kg-1, respectively. According to the results, it can be inferred that sesame, like millet, provides greater feeding security for ruminant herds in regions with irregular rainfall.
Keywords: Animal nutrition, corn, millet, sunflower, sesame, tropical.
1Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Zootecnia, Fortaleza, Ceará, 60020-181, Brasil.
2Universidade Federal do Piauí, Departamento de Zootecnia, Bom Jesus, Piauí, 64900-000, Brasil.
*Corresponding author (romilda0155@hotmail.com).
3Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Centro de Saúde e Tecnologia, Patos, Paraíba, 58708-110, Brasil.
4Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Departamento de Zootecnia, Areia, Paraíba, 58397-000, Brasil.
5Universidade Federal da Bahia, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Salvador, Bahia, 4011, Brasil.