Sugarcane tops, and particularly the immature stalks, are highly palatable to livestock, with good intake characteristics (Suttie, 2000). However, because of their low protein content, their use as sole feed in ruminant diets is limited (Ferreiro et al., 1976; Ferreiro et al., 1977; Montpellier et al., 1977a; Nguyen Thi Mui et al., 2000; Puga et al., 2001a; Puga et al., 2001b; Salais et al., 1977; Galina et al., 2003; Galina et al., 2007; Arcos Garcia et al., 2000).
Digestibility and intake
The DM digestibility of sugarcane tops is low and ranges between 48 and 56% (Archimède et al., 2008), though immature tops are more digestible (65%) (Ferreiro et al., 1977). The voluntary intake of sugarcane tops in ruminants varies from 1.8 to 2.5 kg DM/100 kg LW (Archimède et al., 2008). Daily intakes of 2.3 and 2.2 kg DM/100 kg LW were obtained in cattle with immature and mature sugarcane tops respectively (Ferreiro et al., 1977).
Sole feed or supplementation
The feed value of sugarcane tops consumed as the sole ingredient in the rations allows animals to meet their energy requirement for maintenance. Animals either lose condition or just maintain themselves, or at best have very low levels of production (Göhl, 1982). However, in Mauritius, it was estimated that sugarcane tops could provide enough energy to meet maintenance and a production of 2-4 litres of milk in cattle (Sansoucy, 1972). In some cases, smallholders have been known to peel the cane tops, keeping the succulent central portion only, and the animals in turn select the succulent bundle sheath and eat very little green leaf. However, this method is not practical for large units (Naseeven, 1988). If animals can graze sugarcane tops selectively, or if the dry leaves are removed, the feeding value of the sugarcane tops is improved (Suttie, 2000).
The principles of supplementing diets based on sugarcane tops are essentially the same as described for whole sugarcane: it is necessary to satisfy the needs of rumen microbes for fermentable nitrogen (ammonia) and trace nutrients, and to provide sources of protein, glucose precursors and long chain fatty acids able to bypass the rumen fermentation to balance the needs of production. Supplementation of sugarcane tops should be done with low fill ingredients. Notably, molasses is a good supplement: it is generally limited to 1% LW and should not exceed 1.5% LW as higher amounts decrease the intake of the sugarcane tops (Archimède et al., 2008).
Beef cattle
High levels of supplementation are useful to increase growth when sugarcane tops are the basal diet (Archimède et al., 2008). With correct balance of both rumen nitrogen and by-pass nutrients, gains of over 1 kg per day have been obtained on ad libitum sugarcane tops and molasses with different sources of nitrogen: urea, poultry litter and wheat bran.
The following table presents the performance of beef cattle fed sugarcane tops supplemented with various ingredients:
| Country |
Animals |
Experiment |
Results |
Reference |
| India |
Zebu bulls, 280 kg |
Sugarcane tops + 1.3 kg rice polishings |
ADG 300 g/d |
Gendley et al., 2002 |
| Mexico |
Zebu steers, 200 kg |
Sugarcane tops + 1 kg rice polishing, 3.5 kg molasses, 115 g urea |
ADG 350 g/d |
Salais et al., 1977 |
| Florida |
Steers, 340 kg |
Sugarcane tops with or without 1 kg of cottonseed meal |
ADG 520 g/d with supplementation, maintenance only without supplementation |
Pate et al., 1971 |
| Mexico |
Zebu x Criollo steers, 200 kg |
Sugarcane tops + 1 kg rice polishings |
ADG 840 g/d |
Ferreiro et al., 1977 |
| Mauritius |
Creole cattle |
Sugarcane tops silage + 1 kg copra cake, 0.2 kg fishmeal, 0.5 kg rice bran and 3 kg/100 kg LW molasses/urea (3%) |
ADG 570-670 g/d |
Deville et al., 1979 |
| Philippines |
Bulls |
Sugarcane tops silage + molasses, copra meal |
ADG 410 g/d |
Tuazon et al., 1974 |
| Sudan |
Fattening Kenana calves |
20% or 30% sugarcane tops + conventional fattening ration |
ADG 700 g/d |
Mahala et al., 2013a |
ADG: average daily gain
In Sudan, cattle from the local Kenana breed had better performance with 20% or 30% sugarcane tops than cross-bred Friesan x Kenana cattle (Mahala et al., 2013a). However, meat from local Kenana cattle fed on 30% sugarcane tops had lower moisture and fat contents, and a higher percentage of cooking losses (Mahala et al., 2013b).
Dairy cattle
In Mauritius, cottonseed cake was found to be an efficient supplement to sugarcane tops for smallholder dairy farmers. A supplement of 1 kg cottonseed cake during late pregnancy, and of 0.25 kg per litre of milk during lactation, was as effective as twice these quantities of commercial concentrate, and milk production increased from 5 L/d to 13 L/d (Boodoo et al., 1990). In Cuba, dairy cows fed diets containing sugarcane tops and Gliricidia sepium forage (100:0, 85:15 and 70:30) as well as multinutrient blocks (10% urea + 25% Gliricidia sepium forage meal) had milk yields between 6.8 and 7.40 kg/d, which did not differ significantly between treatments (Pedraza et al., 1998). In India, low-producing dairy cows fed sugarcane tops (51% of the diet) twice daily gave the best results (Bandeswaran et al., 2012).
Sheep and goats
In Ghana, for West African sheep and goats sugarcane tops appeared to be more valuable than rice straw or sorghum tops and worth approximately 70% of the value of pangola hay (Digitaria eriantha) harvested at 60 days of regrowth (Grieve, 1976a; Grieve, 1976b). In Mexico, ensiled sugarcane tops were found to be a practical partial substitute for sorghum stover in diets for growing and finishing feedlot lambs, as this substitution did not negatively affect daily weight gain (Salinas-Chavira et al., 2013). In Vietnam, the intake of fresh sugarcane tops was significantly higher for animals fed tops chopped into slices of 1-3 cm: 1002 g/d compared with 876 and 899 g/d for tops chopped at 15 or 20-cm, respectively (Nguyen Thi Mui et al., 2000).
In Mexico, in lambs fed sugarcane tops, supplementation with urea resulted in a better utilization of the roughage, with higher DM and OM digestibility, lower molar proportions of acetate, and greater feed intake, which was reflected in body weight gain (Galina et al., 2007). In Brazil, lambs were satisfactorily fed on sugarcane tops silage (20%) supplemented with soybean meal (30%) and concentrate (50%), and had an average daily gain of 143 g/d (Lima et al., 2013). Likewise, lambs fed a diet comprising 70% roughage (sugarcane tops, maize stubble and Napier grass) and 30% of a concentrate, acting as a controlled-release urea supplement, had higher DM intakes as well as higher digestibilities of fibre and other nutrients (Puga et al., 2001a; Puga et al., 2001b). In Egypt, Saidi rams fed on 500 g/d concentrates plus ad libitum sugarcane tops, treated with 1% urea, had higher daily live-weight gains, better reproductive performance and subsequent fertility compared to rams offered wheat straw only (Megahed et al., 2006). However, the urea treatment of sugarcane tops was found to have deleterious effects on both hepatic and renal tissues in Saidi rams, with one study recommended avoiding this practice (Mousa et al., 2003).
