Livestock Studies 2018, Vol 58, Num, 2     (Pages: 099-107)

Composition of Rice Straw and Methods of Increasing Its Feed Value

Bora Bölükbaş 1 ,İsmail Kaya 1

1 Ondokuzmayıs Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Hayvan Besleme ve Beslenme Hastalıkları AD, Samsun, Türkiye - Rice is the second most cereal product cultivating in the world after wheat and the fourth grain product produced after wheat, barley, and corn in our country. While some part of the rice straws left in the field after harvesting are used as a source of feed for ruminant by small scale farmers, the most of its part is burned in the fields and causes great damages to the environment and the soil. The high level of lignin and silica content, the low palatability and consummabilty, the slow and the limited ruminal degradation of the structural carbohydrates and the low content of nitrogen are the main factors of rice straw, affecting its value as a feed for ruminants. To increase nutritive value of rice straw many methods involving physical, chemical, and biological treatments have been investigated. The aim of these methods is to ensure access of rumen microorganim to polysaccharides such as cellulose, hemicelluloses easier by disrupting the integrity of the lignin and siliceous layer of straw. In this review, the nutritional contents of rice straw and widely treatment methods applied to increase its feeding value are presented. Keywords : Rice straw, feed value, treatment methods