Forage yield and quality of pearl millet var. 'Comum' and Sorghum cv. Sordan NK, under grazing

Abstract

Pearl millet var. Comum (Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke) and Sorghum cv. Sordan NK (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) were evaluated under continuous grazing in an experiment carried out at the Estação Experimegal Agronômica – UFRGS, Guaíba, RS, Brazil. Species were evaluated through dry matter production, dry matter percentage, crude protein content, in vitro dry matter digestibility and in vitro organic matter digestibility. Pearl millet var. Comum and Sorghum cv. Sordan NK were similar in dry matter production but the latter species produced 23% more dry matter than the former. The crude protein content of the two species did not differ significantly, however pearl millet showed higher values than sorghum. For the in vitro dry matter digestibility and in vitro organic matter digestibility both species showed similar trends, but pearl millet had higher average values than sorghum.