Comparative characteristics of qualitative indicators of amaranth and corn silage

Silage is the main juicy food and a source of vitamins for animals in the winter-stall period. In order to expand the range of forage crops for the production of high – protein silage in the work used non-traditional forage culture amaranth, which is the content of protein balanced by the number of essential amino acids (especially lysine, methionine and tryptophanus), oils, micro – and macro-elements, vitamins and biologically active substances far superior to traditional forage plants, including legumes. Amaranth belongs to the group of plants hard-ensilage because the level of sugar in its green mass does not exceed the minimum required for the silage process, but the use of starter cultures, contributing to the creation of optimal conditions for the normal flow of fermentation processes, can solve this problem. The comparative characteristic of qualitative indicators of a silo from amaranth paniculate and from maize as raw materials of the most widespread for preparation of green forages is carried out in work. It is established that in the phase of milk-wax ripeness of seeds amaranth has the best technological properties for silage harvesting, as the total loss of nutrients in the silage of amaranth in this phase is minimal. The content of "raw" protein, which is an important indicator in the conditions of protein deficiency in traditional fodder crops, in the amaranth silage of paniculata is almost 2 times higher than in the corn silage. Based on the evaluation of the quality of silage on dry matter content, organic acids, crude protein, degree of acidity and organoleptic indicators it can be concluded that the silage of amaranth is more balanced in terms of key indicators of quality compared to corn silage.