In Colombia, Tithonia diversifolia is one of the most important forage resources in animal feed, especially in specialized dairies and dual-purpose livestock, thanks to its adaptation to a variety of climates, its productivity and nutritional value. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the agronomic and productive behavior of Tithonia diversifolia under two fertilization schemes. The study was carried out at the CISVEB Plant Health and Bio-input Research Center belonging to the University of Pamplona. For this, 50 plants were established for each treatment: chemical fertilization, organic fertilization and control under a randomized design after soil analysis and application of corrective measures. For the evaluation of the agronomic and productive variables of plant height, number of stems, number of leaves, weight of stem, weight of leaf, relation leaf - stem, leaf area and dry matter production, descriptive statistical tests were applied, analysis of variance and analysis of separation of means using the Tukey test with a significance of 5%. Statistically significant difference p <0.05 was presented for the variables of height, number of leaves and number of stems, with chemical fertilization being the best treatment, while leaf area was higher in organic fertilization. Similar behavior was obtained for the other variables. It is concluded that chemical fertilization influences some agronomic parameters of T. diversifolia.

Contextualization: In livestock production, food supplementation is carried out with commercial feed that increases production costs and thus affects the profit margins of livestock companies. Research gap: Orange silage is seen as a nutritional and economic alternative for livestock companies in search of sustainability under the following questions: What is the effect of orange silage on the productivity and quality of bovine milk? Is it possible to reduce the Feeding costs by including this silage and reducing the feed without affecting the productive parameters in milk cattle? Purpose: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of orange silage (EN) supply on bovine milk composition at the Villa Marina Experimental Farm of the University of Pamplona. Methodology: A randomized complete block design was used with 12 animals whose genetics are influenced by the Gyr, Holstein, Jersey and Swedish Red breed, distributed in a treatment with the substitution of 20% of commercial balanced food (T1) and a control (T2). The EN was elaborated with fruits produced on the farm with 30 days of fermentation. A period of 10 days of accustoming was carried out. The milk composition (fat, protein, non-fat solids (SNG), minerals and lactose) were measured every seven days for 90 days. The data obtained were subjected to an analysis of variance and correlation. Results and conclusions: The inclusion of EN generated a higher (P<0,05) fat content (4,36%) in the cow’s milk, compared to the control treatment (3,75%). There was no effect of treatments on the remainder milk components evaluated. The daily production of milk was not affected (P>0,05) by treatments. The replacement of commercial balanced food by 20% with EN improves the milk fat content and decreases the costs of feeding, compared to conventional management, becoming a sustainable feeding alternative in crossbreed lactating cows.

Uno de los principales problemas de la producción comercial de leche caprina deriva en los altos costos de suplementación, debido al uso de alimentos balanceados. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar el efecto del suministro de ensilaje de naranja (EN) sobre la calidad de leche caprina. Se utilizó un diseño de bloques completos aleatorizados, con 48 animales de la raza Saanen, distribuidos en dos tratamientos: uno, de 250g (tratamiento 1) y otro, de 500g (tratamiento 2), de inclusión de EN y un testigo con cuatro réplicas cada una, con cuatro animales. El EN consistió en trozos pequeños del fruto, fermentados durante 30 días. Los parámetros de calidad de leche: grasa, proteína, sólidos no grasos, minerales, densidad y lactosa, se midieron en un equipo Julie C3 Scope Electric, con una periodicidad semanal, durante dos meses. Mediante comparación de medias por prueba de Tukey a los parámetros de calidad de leche, se encontró diferencia significativa P<0,05, para grasa, en el tratamiento 1 y proteína y sólidos minerales, en el tratamiento 2, con medias de 3,99 y 0,86%, respectivamente. Para los demás parámetros, se obtuvieron valores similares. Por lo cual, se concluye que el EN, usado como suplemento alimenticio, es una alternativa nutricional, que mejora algunas características de calidad de la leche caprina.