The Postgraduate Student Association or Himpunan Mahasiswa Pascasarjana (HMP) Fapet UGM held a Public Lecture “Potential of Sorghum as a Plant in the Land and the Dry Season.” The activity was carried out on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, online. Head of the Animal Science Major of Faculty of Animal Science, University of Papua, Evi Warintan Saragih, S.Pt., M.Sc., Ph.D., and Lecturer of Animal Science Major of Faculty of Animal Science UGM, Dr. Ir. Bambang Suhartanto, DEA., IPU., were the speaker at the event.
Evi Warintan discussed specifically local grass in Papua, named Sorghum Sudanense. Sorghum Sudanense is a source of local forage in Papua. Based on research, the cultivation of Sorghum Sudanense used a spacing of 50 x 30 or 60 x 60, with pols planting material. Harvesting the grass is carried out at the age of 30-45 days. The research results on animal feed showed that the addition of supplements (rumen fluid) to sorghum grass silage could improve quality. The grass products have been made into wafer and silage,”said Evi.
The issue of ruminant feed was the opening of the material presented by Bambang Suhartanto. In this material, the problem of forage in Indonesia related to its availability was influenced by one of factors, like season factor. Indonesia is a tropical country with two extreme seasons, the rainy and dry seasons. This season affects the fluctuations in the production of forage plant biomass. The production of plant biomass will be low in the dry season. This case needs to be considered, regarding the high cost of feed and production of ruminants is also limited and expensive.