Leucaena leucocephala as a quality supplement to Pennisetum clandestinum foggage: A preliminary study

Abstract

The performance of growing beef steers grazing foggaged dryland Pennisetum clandestinum (kikuyu) pastures and given limited access (3 h d⁻¹) to Leucaena leucocephala cv. Cunningham (leucaena) was compared to that of steers grazing only kikuyu foggage during autumn and early winter. For three seasons (1988–1990) animals grazing leucaena performed better (P≤£0.01) and gained 24.8 ± 3.01 kg per animal more, over 90 days, than those on kikuyu alone. Animal performance ranged from 0.62 to 0.09 kg d⁻¹ on leucaena and from 0.26 to ‐0.21 kg d⁻¹ on kikuyu. There were differences between seasons, but no Treatment by Season interaction (P>0.05), and these were attributed to the quantity of autumn rainfall because of its effect on the proportion of green leaf in the foggage. It is proposed that leucaena receive more detailed attention under grazing in southern Africa as a supplement to poor quality forage. The danger of leucaena becoming an invasive alien in the humid coastal regions must not be ignored.