<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?><article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id>2346-3775</journal-id>
<journal-title><![CDATA[Tropical Grasslands-Forrajes Tropicales]]></journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title><![CDATA[Trop. Grassl.-Forrajes Trop.]]></abbrev-journal-title>
<issn>2346-3775</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name><![CDATA[Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT)]]></publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id>S2346-37752017000200077</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.17138/tgft(5)77-84</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[Effects of harvesting age and spacing on plant characteristics, chemical composition and yield of desho grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin.) in the highlands of Ethiopia]]></article-title>
<article-title xml:lang="es"><![CDATA[Efectos de la edad a la cosecha y del espaciamiento en las características de planta, composición química y rendimiento del pasto desho (Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin.) en las tierras altas de Etiopía]]></article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname><![CDATA[TILAHUN]]></surname>
<given-names><![CDATA[GENET]]></given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname><![CDATA[ASMARE]]></surname>
<given-names><![CDATA[BIMREW]]></given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname><![CDATA[MEKURIAW]]></surname>
<given-names><![CDATA[YESHAMBEL]]></given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff"/>
</contrib>
</contrib-group>
<aff id="Af1">
<institution><![CDATA[,South Gonãar Zone Agricultural Office  ]]></institution>
<addr-line><![CDATA[Debre Tabor ]]></addr-line>
<country>Ethiopia</country>
</aff>
<aff id="Af2">
<institution><![CDATA[,Bahir Dar University College of Agriculture anã Environmental Sciences Department of Animal Proãuction anã Technology]]></institution>
<addr-line><![CDATA[Bahir Dar ]]></addr-line>
<country>Ethiopia</country>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="pub">
<day>00</day>
<month>08</month>
<year>2017</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>00</day>
<month>08</month>
<year>2017</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>5</volume>
<numero>2</numero>
<fpage>77</fpage>
<lpage>84</lpage>
<copyright-statement/>
<copyright-year/>
<self-uri xlink:href="http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&amp;pid=S2346-37752017000200077&amp;lng=en&amp;nrm=iso"></self-uri><self-uri xlink:href="http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&amp;pid=S2346-37752017000200077&amp;lng=en&amp;nrm=iso"></self-uri><self-uri xlink:href="http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_pdf&amp;pid=S2346-37752017000200077&amp;lng=en&amp;nrm=iso"></self-uri><abstract abstract-type="short" xml:lang="en"><p><![CDATA[Abstract 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&lt;0.05) affected by plant spacing was leaf length. However, harvesting age significantly (P&lt;0.01) affected morphological characteristics and DMY as well as CP and NDF (P&lt;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.]]></p></abstract>
<abstract abstract-type="short" xml:lang="es"><p><![CDATA[Resumen En el distrito de Farta, Etiopía, se evaluaron los efectos de la edad a cosecha y la distancia de siembra de la hierba desho (Pennisetum peãicellatum Trin.) sobre las características morfológicas de la planta, la composición química y el rendimiento de forraje. Se utilizó un experimento factorial con 3 edades a la cosecha (75, 105 y 135 días después de la siembra), 3 espaciamientos de plantas (10 x 50, 30 x 50 y 50 x 50 cm) y 3 repeticiones. Se evaluaron las características morfológicas: longitud de hoja, altura de planta, número de tallos por planta y número de hojas por planta; se determinaron las concentraciones de proteína cruda (PC), fibra detergente neutra (FDN), fibra detergente ácida (FDA) y lignina detergente ácida; y se cuantificó el rendimiento de materia seca (MS). Los resultados mostraron que la longitud de hoja fue la única característica morfológica que fue afectada (P&lt;0.05) por el espaciamiento de siembra de las plantas, mientras que la edad a la cosecha afectó tanto las características morfológicas y el rendimiento de MS (P&lt;0.01) como la PC y la FDN (P&lt;0.05). El rendimiento de MS aumentó marcadamente a medida que la edad a cosecha fue mayor, mientras que el espaciamiento de las plantas no tuvo un efecto significativo sobre los rendimientos obtenidos. La concentración de PC en el forraje disminuyó a medida que el intervalo de cosecha fue mayor (10.9% a 75 días vs. 9.3% a 135 días). Los resultados de este estudio sugieren que buenas prácticas de manejo como el control de malezas y la cantidad adecuada de material de siembra deben ser los criterios que deben utilizar los agricultores para seleccionar el espaciamiento entre hileras de siembra, ya que en las condiciones del estudio, la distancia no tuvo efecto sobre el rendimiento. Como se realizó una sola cosecha a cada edad, los rendimientos obtenidos en este estudio no son necesariamente representativos de los rendimientos a obtenerse por múltiples cosechas en estos intervalos. Se necesitan más estudios para cuantificar estas diferencias.]]></p></abstract>
<kwd-group>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[Biomass]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[harvesting day]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[morphological characteristics]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[nutritive value]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[plant spacing]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[Características morfológicas]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[día de cosecha]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[espaciamiento de plantas]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[producción de biomasa]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[valor nutritivo]]></kwd>
</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
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