Adding sweet potato vines improve the quality of rice straw silage

Abstract Rice straw and sweet potato vines are the main by‐products of agricultural crops, and their disposal creates problems for the environment in the south of China. In order to establish an easy method for making rice straw silage successfully, experiments were conduct to evaluate fermentation quality and nutritive value of rice straw silages ensiled with or without sweet potato vine. Paddy rice straw (PR) and upland rice straw (UP) were ensiled alone or with sweet potato vines (SP) by a ratio of 1:1 (fresh matter basis), over 3 years. Compared with rice straw silages ensiled alone, the mixed‐material silages (PR + SP, UR + SP) showed higher fermentation quality with lower propionic acid content and NH 3 ‐N ratio of total N, and higher ( P < 0.05) concentrations of lactic acid and acetic acid, resulting in decrease ( P < 0.05) of dry matter loss and higher ( P < 0.05) in vitro ruminal dry matter digestion. When the fermentation quality, chemical composition and in vitro rumen fermentation characteristics were considered, ensiling would be an effective way of utilization of rice straw and sweet potato vines in the regions where rice and sweet potato are harvested at same season, and the sweet potato vines have the potential to improve rice straw fermentation quality with low water soluble carbohydrate content in south of China.