EVALUATION OF OPUNTIA  CULTIVARS FOR PALATABILITY TO SHEEP - Karin Dearlove & Marcia Grobler

ARC-LBD (Range and Forage), Pretoria 0001, South Africa

Opuntia is generally recognized as a fruit crop for semi-arid, subtropical conditions around the world.  The majority of Opuntia plant biomass is palatable cladode material, rather than fruits, and can be fed to livestock.  An experiment was conducted on the Roodeplaat Experimental farm which is situated north-east of Pretoria. Forty two Opuntia cultivars were fed fresh to evaluate their palatability to sheep.  The experiment consisted of four Pedi sheep blocked according to weight in five camps containing three feeding troughs, where three different cultivars were provided randomly on a daily basis.  Each cultivar was presented in a different camp in a different combination for five days.  The cultivars were ranked from most palatable to least palatable, with Amersfoort and Sicilian Indian Fig as most palatable and Skinners Court as least palatable.  The protein-, fiber- and mineral content of the different cultivars were also determined.