Productivity and nutritional value of elephant grass BRS Kurumi subjected to different proportions of defoliation

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to evaluate productivity, nutritional value of forage and tillering of elephant grass cv. BRS Kurumi under different pre-defoliation and post-defoliation canopy heights (residual height). The experimental design consisted in a randomized complete block design, with four replications. Treatments corresponded to the factorial combination of two pre‐defoliation heights (60 and 80 cm) and three post-defoliation residue heights (10, 25 and 40 cm), combined in factorial design 2 x 3, being, respectively, 60 x 10 cm; 60 x 25 cm; 60 x 40 cm; 80 x 10 cm; 80 x 25 cm; 80 x 40 cm. Productive, bromatological, carbohydrate fractionation and in situ degradability characteristics were evaluated. Results indicated that if the objective is to seek short intervals between grazing, associated with higher forage quality, the 60 x 25, 60 x 40 and 80 x 40 managements are the most indicated ones. For maximum forage productivity, 80 x 10 and 80 x 25 are the most recommended ones. For tillering, a canopy height management of 80 cm is preferred, with 80 x 25 for aerial tillers and 80 x 40 for basal tillers.