Yield performance and nutritive value of hedge lucerne (Desmanthus virgatus L. Willd.) under different cutting regimes.

A one year cutting regime experiment arranged in split plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications involving three cutting heights (30, 50 and 100 cm) and three cutting intervals (30, 45 and 60 days) was conducted to determine the yield, nutritive value and in vitro dry matter digestibility of Desmanthus virgatus for the wet and dry seasons (WS and DS, respectively). Total herbage dry matter yield (t/h/yr), increased with lowering cutting heights (CH) and increasing cutting intervals (CI). Significant interaction of the two factors on re-growth yield was found showing in the WS, similar values among the CH's at 30 and 45 days CI becoming higher with 30 cm CH than the other two CH's at 60 days CI. In DS, yield was highest with 100 cm CH at 30 days, similar among the CH's at 4S days and lowest with 100 cm CH at 60 days CI. Regrowth yield was higher in the WS than in the DS. Dry matter (DM) content of fresh herbage increased, while crude protein (CP) content decreased with longer CI's but were not affected by CH and the interaction of the two factors. While DM value increased from the WS to DS, CP value had the opposite response. Ash content was generally insensitive to varying CH's with the only exception being lower ash content with the highest CH during the WS. On the other hand, ash content tended to become higher with longer CI. In vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) was significantly affected by CH, CI and their interaction. In the DS, higher IVDMD value was obtained with higher CH's and 30 and 45 days CI and lower IVDMD with lower CH's compared to 100 cm CH's compared to 100 cm CH at 60 days CI. In the DS, while IVDMD with 50 and 100 cm CH at 60 days CI. In the DS, while IVDMD with 50 and 100 cm CH's gradually lowered with longer CI, value with 30 cm CH sharply decreased from 30 to 45 days but did not further change from 45 to 60 days CI. IVDMD value did not change from wet to dry seasons. The falls in digestibility and CP values with longer CI's were accompanied by decrease in leaf proportion and increase in DM content of the harvested materials.