Comparison of Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum) varieties in campo cerrado soils

Abstract

A field study was conducted on a Red-Yellow Latosol in Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, to compare the total production of green forage, dry matter and protein contents of twelve varieties and hybrids of Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum). Over a period of two years three cuttings were obtained. In addition to the leaf-stem ratios, the relative production of protein and dry matter were obtained for each fraction. The variety "Mineiro" produced the highest per hectare yield. For the two cuttings the first year the green matter, dry matter and protein were 74.2, 16.7, and 1.26 tons per hectare, respectively, and the third cutting produced an additional 54.7 tons of green matter containing 12.2 tons of dry matter and 892 kg of protein per hectare. Other varieties giving good production were Elefante de Pinda, Taiwan A-144, Napier S.E.A., and Taiwan A-143. The proportion of stems to leaves was greater for the first and third cuttings, produced during summer, than the second cutting. All varieties contained a higher percentage of protein in the leaves than the stems. Varieties Elefante de Pinda and Taiwan A-25 contained the highest percentage of protein. However, of the varieties studied, Elefante de Pinda contained the second highest total protein level and Taiwan A-25 the lowest.