Effect of adding propionic acid and lactic acid bacteria on fermentation quality of hybrid Pennisetum silage

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of adding propionic acid, lactic acid bacteria and mixture of the two additions on the fermentation quality of hybrid Pennisetum silage. There were treatments as following: the control (no addition), Lactic acid bacteria addition (LAB), Propionic acid addition at 0.2% (PA0.2), Propionic acid addition at 0.3% (PA0.3), Propionic acid addition at 0.4% (PA0.4）, Propionic acid addition at 0.5% (PA0.5), PA0.2+LAB, PA0.3+LAB, PA0.4+LAB and PA0.5+LAB (FM，%). After 45 days of ensiling, the ensiled forages were sampled and analyzed. The results showed that addition propionic acid could improve the fermentation quality of hybird P.silages, and adding Propionic acid at a rate of 0.3% is the optimum for fermentation quality of hybrid Pennisetum.