Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan et al., 2009. Livest. Res. Rural Dev., 21 (8): 121

Two experiments were conducted to measure: (i) the productivity and nutritional quality of Hymenachne acutigluna and Paspalum atratum grasses planted with and without the legume tree Sesbania sesban on waterlogged soils; and (ii) the effect of feeding Hymenachne acutigluna to cattle as the basal diet compared with Hymenachne acutigluna or Paspalum atratum supplemented with foliage of Sesbania. Inter-planting Hymenachne acutigluna or Paspalum atratum with Sesbania sesban resulted in increased yield of DM of 11% and of crude protein of 50% of the associated grass. The crude protein in the grass DM was increased from 8.36-8.79% to 11.2-12.7% by Sesbania. The combination of Sesbania foliage with either of the two grasses supported growth rates in crossbred cattle that were some 20% greater than when Hymenachne acutigluna grass was the sole diet. Apparent digestibility coefficients of DM and crude protein were higher on the diets supplemented with Sesbania.