Abstract
Inadequacy of quality forage production is a major limiting factor for dairy production in the Sri Lankan dry zone. Napier grass cv Pakchong-1 (Pennisetum purpureum x Pennisetum glaucum) is a tropical grass with fastgrowing and high yielding ability. The study aims to determine the growth parameters and yield performance of Pakchong-1 grass under three different spacing of 30cm x 30cm, 90cm x 90cm and 120cm x 90cm in the Kilinochchi district, dry zone of Sri Lanka, from April 2019 to March 2020. A complete randomized design with three replicates was used in this study. Growth parameters were measured bi-weekly up to the 8th week and harvested the foliage after the 8th week in 56 days intervals. Plants at 30cm x 30cm spacing have shown the highest plant height of (153.00cm), the higher number of leaves (93.67), longer leaf length (95.33cm), wider leaf width (3.82cm)and higher leaves per tiller (11.33) at 8 weeks after planting (P<0.05). While the highest (P<0.05) the number of tillers (10.00) was recorded at 120cm× 90cm spacing. Fresh matter yields were highest (P<0.05) at 30cm x 30cm spacing in all cutting frequencies. The second cutting at the 14th week has shown the highest fresh matter yield(P<0.05) in all spacing. Pakchong – 1 can be suggested for the Sri Lankan dry zone regions at 30cm x 30cm spacing to provide the highest fresh matter output and optimal growth performance.
Highlights
Successful forage production is one of the crucial factors for any ruminant production
The field experiment was carried out using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with the selected three plant spacings of 30cm×30cm, 90cm×90cm and 120cm× 90cm that commonly farmers practised in this region
Reduced row spacing had a significant effect on number of leaves/tiller (30cm × 30cm > 90cm × 90cm > 120cm × 90cm, P 90cm × 90cm > 120cm × 90cm, P
Summary
Successful forage production is one of the crucial factors for any ruminant production. Some problems need to be addressed concerning the feed for livestock in Sri Lanka(Pushparajah and Sinniah, 2018a). One of the reasons for the lesser dairy productivity of livestock in Sri Lanka could be the lack of quality forages and their availability. The Sri Lanka dairy industry predominantly depends on forage materials from natural pasture fields and fodder collected from on the roadside, mountain slopes, tank banks, uncultivated public and private lands. A handful of farmers turned to grow quality pasture and fodder solely for their dairy animals in Sri Lanka. Accessibility of quality improved pasture, fodder and availability of cultivable lands for pasture and fodder are some of the major constraints prevailing in dairy production of Sri Lanka
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