Influence of cutting, nitrogen fertilizer and plant spacing on yield, quality and persistence of purple guinea grass (Panicum maximum TD58) I. Influence of cutting height and cutting intervals on yield, quality and persistence

Abstract

A field experiment was established to determine the influence of cutting height and cutting intervals on yield , quality, and persistence of purple guinea grass. The experiment was carried out at Khon Kaen University from May 2004 to January 2006. The design was a split plot with 4 replications. The main plots were differed in the height of cutting (10 and 20 cm.) and the sub plots were differed in the frequency of cutting (20 , 30 and 40 days). In the first year during a dry season, the experiment showed that a lax cutting (20 cm.) yield more (P < 0.01) dried matter (TDMY) than a close cutting (10 cm.). In the second year, the close cutting gave higher TDMY than the lax cutting (P < 0.01). The cutting interval significantly influenced the TDMY both in the first and second year (P < 0.01). In the first year, the close cutting gave higher CP than lax cutting (P < 0.01) but the ADF and the NDF content in grass were lower (P < 0.01). In the second year, as the frequency of cutting increased, theamount of CP decreased in a linear fashion regardless or the cutting height. When the cutting interval was thirty or forty days, the increase in cutting height resulted in a linear increase in the amont of CP. The Total Nonstructural Carbohydrate (TNC) of stubble was significantly interactions (P < 0.01) on cutting height and cutting intervals.