The Effect of Effective Microorganisms-4 (Em 4) Addition on the Physical Quality of Sugar Cane Shoots Silage

Abstract

This research aimed to find out the physical quality of silage sugarcane shoots with the addition of Effective microorganism (EM-4). This research was conducted in the Laboratory of animal science and in the Laboratory of Chemistry and Microbiology the Faculty of Agriculture Sriwijaya University. Shoots of sugar cane were cut into pieces as long as pieces 2-3 cm and dried up to obtain water levels 60-70%,then the addition of EM4 was done according to dose treatment and stored for 21 days. Physical observation, temperature and the amount of lactic acid bacteria were analyzed descriptively while the measurement of the degree of acidity and percentage fungi of used Completely Randomized Design with 5 treatments and 3 replications. The treatments were: T0= shoots of sugar cane without treatment (control), T1= shoots of sugar cane+4%EM4 (v/w), T2= shoots of sugar cane+6%EM4 (v/w), T3= shoots of sugar cane+ 8%EM4 (v/w), T4= shoots of sugar cane+10%EM4 (v /w). The results showed that the temperature of silage sugar cane ranges from 27.5-29oC.The ever increasing doses of EM4 showed a yellowish green color. The flavor was sour and fresh fragrant, the increase in the amount of lactic acid bacteria, significantly affect (P<0.05) pH (4.3-5.2) and the percentage of fungi (0.52-2.29%). The conclusion of this research is with increasing the dose of the effective microorganism 4 treatment up to 10 % can retain physical qualities of shoots of sugar cane shoots silage.