BIOMASS YIELD AND NUTRITIVE QUALITY OF TWO GRASSES IN THE NATURAL PASTURES AS AFFECTED BY CUTTING HEIGHT AND INTERVAL IN ABEOKUTA

140 PAGES (28937 WORDS) Animal Science Thesis

ABSTRACT This  experiment  was  conducted  to  study  the  effects  of  cutting  height  and  interval  on  the biomass  yield  and  nutritive  quality  of  Andropogon  tectorum  Schumach  and  Panicum maximum  Jacq.  in  the  natural  pasture  at  the  Federal  University  of  Agriculture,  Abeokuta from  October  2010  to  March  2011.  Two  cutting  heights:  20  and  30  cm  above  ground level  and  three  cutting  intervals:  four,  six  and  eight  weeks  were  combined  in  a  factorial arrangement  and  randomized  complete  block  design  with  three  replicates.  Harvesting started  four  weeks  after  the  cut  back  of  the  initial  growth  in  October  2010.  At  each harvest,  forage  samples  were  randomly  taken,  weighed,  separated  into  different  species components  and  oven-dried  to  determine  the  dry  matter  yields  (DMY).  The  leaf  and  stem components  of  the  forages  were  milled  and  subjected  to  chemical  analysis.  Data  obtained were  analyzed  using  two-way  analysis  of  variance  while  significant  means  were separated  using  Duncan‟s  Multiple  Range  Test.  The  results  showed  that  the  DMY  for  P. maximum  significantly  (P0.05)  of  cutting  interval  on  DMY  of  both grasses.  The  leaf  proportion  of  both  grasses  (P.  maximum:  95.20  –  83.88  %;  A.  tectorum: 70.49  –  44.56  %)  decreased  (P