Morphoagronomical and Nutritive Performance of Brachiaria Grasses Affected by Soil Type and Fertilizer Application Grown under Rainfed Condition in Ethiopia

Abstract

The objective of the field experiment was to evaluate the agronomic performance and nutritive values of brachiaria grass in response to cultivars, soil type, and fertilizer application. A randomized complete block design containing three replications with three factors (fertilizer, cultivars, and soil types) was used. The cultivars were Brachiaria mutica, Brachiaria hybrid Mulato-II, Brachiaria hybrid Mulato-I, Brachiaria birzantha Marandu, and Brachiaria birzantha La liberated. The root splits were means of propagation for all cultivars. The spacing between blocks and plots was 1 meter while between plants and rows was 0.5 meter. Agronomic performance such as plant height (PH), number of tillers (NT), number and length of leaves, forage dry matter (DM) yield, and nutritive values of the cultivars were measured and analyzed. Forage samples were taken at 90 days harvesting age. A general linear model of statistical analysis system (SAS) version 9.0 is used as a statistical method. The results revealed that all three factors interaction was highly significant ( $p<0.001$ ) on all agronomic and nutritive values of Brachiaria grass cultivars. The agronomic performance and most of its nutritive values of brachiaria cultivars were higher ( $p<0.05$ ) at black soil than in red soil; except for crude protein. The Brachiria mutica cultivar had a higher agronomic performance at both soil types than hybrid Mulato-II and hybrid Mulato-I. Based on the response recorded, it can be concluded that hybrid Mulato-II, B. mutica, and hybrid Mulato-I cultivars were performing better in the study areas. As a recommendation, farmers should consider cultivar, soil type, and presence of fertilizer in establishing brachiaria grass in the production system.