Abstract
The research was conducted to determine the effects of cutting interval and fertilization on the nutritional quality, nutrient uptake, and biomass production of King grass. The experimental design was a randomized complete block, using 4 blocks and 8 treatments per block; treatments consisted of 4 ages of cutting (30, 45, 60, and 90 days), with fertilization and without fertilization. The results showed increases of up to 72,000 kg ha−1 year−1 of dry matter (DM) when fertilization was implemented. There was a significant reduction in with an increase in the cutting days (12.70–6.53% protein). Fiber increased (48.79–72.99% NDF) when fertilization treatments were included and cutting days increased. The elements that were included in fertilization (N, P, K) showed a higher foliar content and also presented a reduction in foliar content with growth of the plant. Treatments with fertilization showed a nutrient uptake increase for all the elements up to 60 days, where a reduction in uptake capacity was observed. King grass is a plant with a high nutrient uptake capacity and, therefore, with high biomass and nutrient production. This is an advantage since it can be used in multiple applications, such as animal feed, biofuel production, and as a substrate for biodigestion, among others.
Highlights
The research was conducted to determine the effects of cutting interval and fertilization on the nutritional quality, nutrient uptake, and biomass production of King grass
Varieties of Pennisetum purpureum are highly used as an animal feed alternative mainly in the dry seasons, due to high biomass production and as a strategy to complement grazing so as to increase the load capacity and fill the shortage of quality p astures[3]
Biomass production increased linearly with fertilization and cutting days, the values ranging from 0.17 kg dry matter (DM) at 30 days to 1.07 kg DM at 90 days in treatments without fertilization and from 0.51 kg DM at 30 days to 2.84 kg DM at 90 days in treatments with fertilization
Summary
The research was conducted to determine the effects of cutting interval and fertilization on the nutritional quality, nutrient uptake, and biomass production of King grass. Cattle farming bases its feed on the production of pastures and forage because of its low cost of production and a vailability[1,2] In this context, varieties of Pennisetum purpureum are highly used as an animal feed alternative mainly in the dry seasons, due to high biomass production and as a strategy to complement grazing so as to increase the load capacity and fill the shortage of quality p astures[3]. Gallego determined that King grass is one of the plants with the greatest potential for butanol production thanks to its productive characteristics, biomass production, and solvent yield[5] Cardona classified it as a high-performance perennial grass with the capacity to adapt to various soil conditions and a high potential for ethanol production, even showing higher yields than sugarcane b agasse[6]. Studies should be carried out in each production area related to the use of fertilizers for the purpose of maximizing plant productivity based on agroclimatic and soil characteristics to obtain models that maximize y ield[12]
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