ABSTRACT
Summary The desertic zone of Venezuela is an area of approximately 4.1 million ha that represents 4.8% of the total national territory, on which there are two million goats. Goats represent the main, if not the only, income source for 60,000 rural families. According to UNESCO (1973), the desertic zone of the country comprises two vegetation types, evergreen scrub and deciduous scrub. In each of these zones the plant species consumed by goats were collected and, for those plant parts consumed by the animals, chemically analyzed to determine nutritive value. Forage plants from other tropical countries were also introduced and evaluated. Several species from the natural vegetation have a high crude protein content. Outstanding among these are: Acacia flexuosa (21.7%), Prosopis juliflora (27.8%), Setaria macrostachya (13.5%), Sporobolus pyramidalis (16.4%), Lippia alba (11.2%), Lippia origanoides (22.0%), Malphigia glabra (23.2%), and Wedelia caracasana (18.7%). Previous work at El Cují Experimental Station, where we have been introducing and evaluating forage and browse species, permitted us to select the most promising ones, such as: Panicum coloratum (Bambatsii), Cenchrus ciliaris (Malopo, Gayndah, Biloela), Cynodon dactylon (SR-954, Gigante), Pennisetum purpureum (Taiwan A-146, Mineiro), Glycine javanica, and Leucaena leucocephala. The results of this study provide a valuable guide for managing vegetation for desirable forage production and, at the same time, offer alternatives for repopulating these areas with species of high nutritive value that could contribute to a better use with goats.
