Abstract
Brachiaria ‘Mulato II’ is a hybrid brachiaria grass with superior nutritive value when compared with other warm-season grasses. The performance of 2 new brachiaria grass hybrids was compared with that of Mulato II in terms of herbage accumulation, nutritive value and ground cover in a series of experiments. In Experiment 1, Mulato II and lines BR02/1752 (now cv. Cayman) and BR02/1794 were harvested at 3- and 6-wk regrowth intervals in South Florida. Mulato II had greater herbage accumulation and ground cover than Cayman and BR02/1794, while Mulato II and Cayman had greater in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM) concentration than BR02/1794. Regrowth interval did not affect herbage accumulation and ground cover but herbage harvested at 3-wk intervals had greater nutritive value than 6-wk regrowth. In Experiment 2, Mulato II had similar IVDOM and CP concentrations to but greater herbage accumulation, ground cover and plant density than Cayman in North-Central Florida. In Experiment 3, Mulato II and Cayman plots were grazed at 2-, 4- or 6-wk intervals, and herbage accumulation and nutritive value were similar for both cultivars. Herbage nutritive value decreased and ground cover increased linearly as regrowth interval increased from 2 to 6 wk, and Mulato II had greater ground cover than Cayman. The new hybrids displayed no production or nutritive value advantages over Mulato II; regrowth intervals of less than 3 wk should be avoided to maintain Brachiaria hybrid stands in this subtropical environment.
Highlights
El híbrido de braquiaria Mulato II es un cultivar con valor nutritivo superior al de otras gramíneas de clima cálido
While herbage harvested at 2-wk regrowth intervals had greater nutritive value, herbage accumulation was less than observed for longer regrowth intervals, supporting results reported with other warm-season grasses
Mulato II, Cayman and BR02/1794 had similar crude protein (CP) concentrations, while herbage harvested at 3-wk intervals had greater CP than that at 6-wk intervals (15.0 vs. 12.7%, s.e. = 0.5, P
Summary
El híbrido de braquiaria Mulato II es un cultivar (cv.) con valor nutritivo superior al de otras gramíneas de clima cálido. Mulato II presentó mayor producción de forraje y cobertura que el cv. El intervalo de corte no afectó la producción de forraje y la cobertura pero en los cortes cada 3 semanas el valor nutritivo fue mayor que en los cortes cada 6 semanas. Following comparisons of herbage accumulation and nutritive value of 10 different species and cultivars of warmseason grasses in South Florida, Vendramini et al (2010) concluded that Mulato II was among the species with greatest in vitro true digestibility (67%). Vendramini et al (2012) compared animal performance, herbage accumulation and nutritive value of Mulato II, ‘Tifton 85’ bermuda grass (Cynodon spp.), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and sorghum-sudan grass (Sorghum bicolor) in North and North-Central Florida. While herbage harvested at 2-wk regrowth intervals had greater nutritive value, herbage accumulation was less than observed for longer regrowth intervals, supporting results reported with other warm-season grasses. These authors noted that the impact of regrowth interval on persistence was dependent on the bahia grass cultivar, with ‘Argentine’ more persistent than ‘UF Riata’, when grazed at a 2-wk regrowth interval
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