Agronomic Responses of Cymbopogon schoenanthus L. Spreng., a Sudanese Forage Grass Grown under Compost for a Bio-Ecological Pasture in the Southern Benin

Abstract

Promoting ecological and organic agriculture (including livestock) requires biological resources and alternatives. Cymbopogon schoenanthus is a sudano-sahelian grass species whose crude leaf essential oils, in addition to their antifungal, antimicrobial, antibacterial and acridifuge or acridicide properties, can be an alternative to chemical insecticides in preventing pests and diseases that limit crops productivities. This study tests the agronomic performances of Cymbopogon schoenanthus grown under three doses of compost. Stumps collected from the Park W of Niger were transplanted to the experimental farm of the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences of University of Abomey-Calavi in the Southern Benin. The experimental design was a complete randomized block with treatments (0 ton per hectare (i.e., control), 5 tons per hectare and 10 tons per hectare of compost) in four replicates. Plants responses to the compost application throughout traits such as heights, number of tillers per plant, number of flowering tillers and dry aerial biomass production, were analyzed with a one-way ANOVA using STATISTICA 9.0. The results show significant responses of the aerial organs of C. schoenanthus to organic fertilization (p<0.05) with the best performance under 5 tons of compost per hectare: height growth in magnitude of 12.72%, number of tillers multiplied in 146.06% and aerial dry biomass in 178.32%. However, fertilization did not influence flowers appearance. Further studies are required for assessing foliar, nutritional quality and essential oil responses to the compost application in order to sustainably promote small ruminants’ organic production.