Productivity of elephant grass pakchong (Pennisetum purpureum cv Pakchong) and elephant grass taiwan (Pennisetum purpureum cv Taiwan) cultivated based on different stem cutting sizes

Abstract

Abstract In Indonesia, elephant grass seeds used by farmers are in the form of cuttings or vegetative material. Currently, there is no standard for the cuttings used to produce high-productivity elephant grass. Therefore, research was conducted to determine the optimal size of cuttings for achieving good elephant grass productivity. The study was conducted in the field station area of Rancamaya, Bogor. A factorial group randomized design with 5 replications was employed for the research. The first factor was the type of elephant grass, consisting of 1) Pakchong and 2) Taiwan, while the second factor was the size of the cuttings, consisting of 1) 5 cm long cuttings, one node, 2) 10 cm long cuttings, one node, 3) 15 cm long cuttings, one node, and 4) control (two nodes as per usual farmer practice). The research results indicated that there was an interaction between the type of elephant grass and the size of cuttings for leaf length, fresh and dry leaf weight, dry stem weight, and total dry weight. The 5 cm cuttings of Pakchong had the highest fresh and dry leaf weights (P<0.05). The highest dry stem and total weight were obtained with the control size cuttings of Pakchong. The number of tillers was influenced by the size of cuttings, with the control size cuttings having the highest number of tillers, although not significantly different from the number of tillers for the 5 cm and 15 cm cuttings. The highest total fresh weight was obtained with the 5 cm cuttings and Pakchong. This study indicates that 5 cm cuttings can be used as cutting material to produce Pakchong and Taiwan with optimal forage production. Further research is needed to assess the forage quality.