Abstract

TILAHUN, GENET; ASMARE, BIMREW  and  MEKURIAW, YESHAMBEL. Effects of harvesting age and spacing on plant characteristics, chemical composition and yield of desho grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin.) in the highlands of Ethiopia. Trop. Grassl.-Forrajes Trop. [online]. 2017, vol.5, n.2, pp.77-84. ISSN 2346-3775.  https://doi.org/10.17138/tgft(5)77-84.

The study was conducted to evaluate effects of harvesting age and plant spacing on plant characteristics, composition and forage yield of desho grass (Pennisetumpeãicellatum Trin.). A factorial experiment with 3 harvesting ages (75, 105 and 135 days after planting) and 3 plant spacings (10 x 50, 30 x 50 and 50 x 50 cm) with 3 replications was used. The data collected were morphological characteristics such as leaf length, plant height, number of tillers per plant and number of leaves per plant. Chemical analysis was conducted for crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL), and dry matter yield (DMY) was quantified. Results indicated that the only morphological characteristic significantly (P<0.05) affected by plant spacing was leaf length. However, harvesting age significantly (P<0.01) affected morphological characteristics and DMY as well as CP and NDF (P<0.05). Dry matter yield increased dramatically as harvesting dates were delayed but plant spacing had no significant effect on DMY. Crude protein concentration in forage declined as harvesting dates were delayed (10.9% at 75 d vs. 9.3% at 135 d). Factors such as weed control and amount of planting material required should be the criteria used by farmers to decide inter-row spacing as, within the conditions of our study, row spacing had minimal effect on yield. As only a single harvest at each age was conducted, the yields quoted in this study are not representative of the yields provided by multiple harvests at these intervals. Further studies are needed to quantify these differences.

Keywords : Biomass; harvesting day; morphological characteristics; nutritive value; plant spacing.

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