http://www.fao.org/ag/aga/agap/frg/
afris/Data/361.HTM
Boehmeria nivea
White ramie
The ramie plant, grown mainly as a fibre crop, is also a source of nutritious green feed. The leaves and tops, unlike the stems, have a low fibre content and are rich in protein, minerals, lysine and carotene. The nutritive value of ramie has been described as similar to that of lucerne, which it can, however, greatly outyield. When ramie is grown for fodder, up to fourteen cuttings a year can be taken from established crops, yielding as much as 300 tons of fresh material (42 tons dry matter) per hectare per year. The foliage is palatable and has proved to be of value not only to stock but also to pigs and poultry. Ramie can be grazed, used as soilage, ensiled together with molasses, or artificially dried for leaf meal. Ramie is palatable to all classes of domestic livestock and is an excellent feed for cattle. As long as satisfactory ad lib mineral levels are achieved, ramie can be fed ad lib to pigs of all ages and acceptable production obtained. Ramie meal has proved valuable to poultry as a source of carotenoids and riboflavin. The only problem associated with feeding ramie is its high mineral uptake, especially molybdenum on soils rich in this element; this can be corrected by adding appropriate levels of copper sulphate to the diet.
| | | | | As % of dry matter | | | | |
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| | | | DM | CP | CF | Ash | EE | NFE | Ca | P | Ref |
Leaf and top meal, | | | | | | | | | |
USA | | | | 91.7 | 21.0 | 16.6 | 14.8 | 4.0 | 43.6 | 4.90 | 0.27 | 537 |
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Fresh forage, | | | | | | | | | | |
25 cm, Colombia | | 30.1 | 13.1 | 18.2 | 4.4 | 34.2 | | | " |
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Dried forage, | | | | | | | | | | |
40 cm, Guatemala | 96.1 | 22.4 | 11.9 | 17.7 | 3.2 | 44.8 | 4.5 | 0.14 | " |
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Forage, 4 weeks, | | | | | | | | | |
95 cm Thailand | | 13.9 | 15.1 | 26.6 | 16.5 | 3.6 | 38.2 | | | 219 |
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Forage, 6 weeks, | | | | | | | | | |
115 cm Thailand | 16.2 | 11.1 | 29.0 | 15.4 | 4.3 | 40.2 | 3.70 | 0.31 | " |
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Leaf meal, Sudan | 90.3 | 22.7 | 11.3 | 18.8 | 8.6 | 38.6 | 4.90 | 0.41 | 98 |
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| | | | | | | Digestibility (%) | | |
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| | | | | Animal | CP | CF | EE | NFE | ME | Ref |
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Fresh, 4 weeks | | | Sheep | 56.0 | 45.0 | 48.0 | 39.0 | 1.47 | 219 |
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Fresh, 6 weeks | | | Sheep | 46.0 | 49.0 | 23.0 | 53.0 | 1.58 | " |
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Leaf meal | | | | Goats | 56.2 | 32.6 | 40.0 | 47.2 | 1.61 | 98 |
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References
Abstracts |