Effect of Indoor and Underground Storage on Efficient Vegetative Propagation of Dwarf Napier Grass (&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Pennisetum purpureum&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; Schumach)

Yusuke Iki,Yasuyuki Ishii,Sachiko Idota,Satoru Fukagawa

doi:10.4236/ajps.2016.78112

Abstract

Dwarf, late-heading (DL) Napier grass is suitable for both cut-and-carry and grazing management due to sufficient yield and quality potential. This species can hardly produce viable seed, and thus vegetative propagation should be essential before winter in temperate regions of southern Kyushu. The objective of this study was to determine the efficient storage methods of DL vegetative propagation. Two experiments were carried out, the first focused on indoor storage of 10-node stem sections under room or chilling (10°C) conditions and the second, on underground storage of ten-node and one-node stem sections at 10 cm, 25 cm or 40 cm depth. After both storages, both of ten-node stem sections, cut into single nodes, and one-node stem sections were transplanted into the soil and counted for the emergence every month in 3 months of planting. In indoor-storage, while storage temperature hardly affected the emergence (P > 0.05), storage period significantly reduced the emergence percentage. In underground storage, while one-node storage achieved constantly 60% emergence, ten-node storage achieved a higher emergence at 80% under 25-cm and 40-cm depths. The results of the study suggest that underground storage of longer stem sections at 25 cm depth could be applied to practical vegetative propagation in the region.

Highlights

Japanese animal husbandry has developed significantly based on an imported feed supply
Assessment of temperature conditions in the wintering period was conducted from 26 December, 2013 to 25 June, 2014 (Experiment 1), and assessment of underground storage conditions was from 9 December, 2014 to 3 June, 2015 (Experiment 2)
In Experiment 2, one-node storage led to a constant emergence percentage of nursery plants of around 60% at every storage depth up to 2 months of bedding (Figure 2(a))

Summary

Introduction

Japanese animal husbandry has developed significantly based on an imported feed supply. Dwarf, late-heading (DL) Napier grass has a high leaf percentage [4] with a sufficient combination of yielding ability and forage quality, and can be applied to cut-and-carry and grazing uses [5]. This genotype is promising to be useful for small-scale Japanese Black beef cow producers. This grass species rarely produces viable seed, so it must be propagated vegetatively by efficient storage methods for nursery plants [6] during the wintering season, contrary to the sward renewal methods in seed-propagated plants [7]. This study was aimed at determining the emergence of nodal cuttings under several storage methods to establish labor-saving, efficient nursery storage methods during the winter

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion