Establishment and nutritive value of native and exotic fodder tree species in Jamaican pasture systems

An experiment was conducted to investigate fodder tree establishment in Jamaican grass pastures. Results demonstrated that Gliricidia and Leucaena can be established by direct seeding, and that adequate weed control improves fodder tree survival and growth. Circle weeding greatly enhanced survival and growth over bush weeding alone. Fertilization and larger planting pits had little positive effect on fodder tree performance. The use of these treatments is not recommended.;In a second experiment the approximate nutritive value of native and exotic Jamaican fodder tree species were determined and compared to the approximate nutritive values of the main pasture grass species used in Jamaica. In general, tree species are inferior to grass in digestibility and mineral content, but superior in crude protein content. These characteristics make tree fodder a good livestock feed supplement for the dry season when grass or of poor quality.