Yield, chemical composition and in vitro dry matter digestibility of different forage grasses
1997
Del Barrio, A.N. | Oliveros, B.A. | Lapitan, R.M. | Lihat, T.S. | Canaria, J.C. | Malijan, J.C. | Arenda, B.R.
Six forage grasses were evaluated and compared for yield, chemical composition and in vitro digestibility. The grasses were Pannicum maximum Jacq. (Guinea grass), Andropogon gayanus Kunth (Gamba grass), Pennisetum purpureum Schumach, (Napier grass, local or Elephant grass), Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. (Napier grass, hybrid or King grass), Setaria sphacelata var. splendida (Splendid grass) and Setaria sphacelata var. sphacelata (Golden timothy). Data were evaluated based on four distinct climatic periods namely: wet-cold (September, October, November); dry-cold (December, January, February); dry-hot (March-April, May); and wet-hot (June, July, August). Among the forage grasses evaluated, Napier grasses (local, 17.08 t and hybrid, 14.36 t) had the highest dry matter yield per hectare per year basis. While both Splendid grass and Golden timothy showed the lowest biomass production (6.31 t and 7.34 t, respectively). Across species, dry matter yield was higher during the wet season than dry season. Specifically, lowest yield was observed during the dry-hot period which was from March to May while highest production was recorded during wet-hot period. The crude protein (CP) content of the different forage species ranged from 7.73 to 15.51 percent. The values were slightly higher during the dry season than in the wet season. The Pennisetum hybrid had slightly higher CP (10.88 vs 9.86 percent) than the local cultivar which is due to higher leaf proportion of the former. Based on the results of the study, among the forage grasses considered for cut-and carry production Napier grass is the best because of its rapid and thick growth that yielded very high dry matter
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