THE FEEDING VALUE POTENTIAL OF POTATO VINES

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Abstract
The potential use of green potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) vines as a livestock feed was investigated. Fresh vines contained less than 12% dry matter (DM) and did not produce a stable silage in plastic bag, laboratory silos. Satisfactory silages were produced by wilting or by the addition of barley, malt, barley + malt, molasses, chopped hay, chopped hay + barley + malt, formaldehyde and/or formic acid. Only the silages from wilted vines or those containing hay had a suitable consistency for storage and handling in conventional silage systems. Sheep readily ate a silage made from potato vines with the addition of 5% barley, 0.5% malted barley and 20% chopped hay or straw. The dry matter content of the vines from two cultivars changed only slightly over a 5-wk sampling period but the acid detergent fiber (ADF) content increased and the N content dropped. Except for the cultivar Wischip, there was little variation among nine cultivars sampled on the same day for pH (5.15–5.95), DM (10.3–12.9%) and ADF (26.5–32.4%). The N content ranged from 1.6 to 2.4% of the DM and the water soluble carbohydrate content from 7.5 to 3.3% of the DM. The levels of glycoalkaloids found should be safe for ruminant animals. It was concluded that potato vines harvested prior to senescence contain a useful level of nutrients for ruminants. Pesticide residues and mechanical systems for harvesting the vines are major concerns to be resolved before on-farm application can be recommended.

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