Sesamum indicum
L. has the potential to be cultivated as a forage plant in hot and dry climate regions, and it can be used
to increase the food security of a herd. The objective of this study was to evaluate growth, production, and chemical
composition of
S. indicum compared with conventional forages used for silage production. The experiment used a
randomized complete block design with split-plots related to time and four replicates per treatment. The plots consisted
of four treatments (
Zea mays
L.,
Helianthus annuus
L.,
Pennisetum glaucum
[L.] R. Br., and
S. indicum), and the subplots
were two evaluation periods (2014 and 2016 harvests). Dry forage biomass production differed among the species in the
2014 harvest with values of 25 530, 12 190, 9408, and 9250 kg ha
-1 for
Z. mays,
S. indicum,
?H. annuus, and
;P. glaucum,
respectively. Maize had a greater variation in forage production between the 2 yr, followed by
S. indicum. There were
higher dry matter (DM) contents (P < 0.0001) for
Z. mays and
S. indicum (404.5 and 251.7 g kg
-1, respectively). Regarding
crude protein,
H. annuus and
S. indicum had levels of 167.2 and 117.7 g kg
-1, respectively. According to the results, it can
be inferred that sesame, like millet, provides greater feeding security for ruminant herds in regions with irregular rainfall.
