Abstract
Elephant grass is a tropical forage plant widely spread in Brazil, used mainly in the livestock sector and in cattle feeding. Because of its high productivity and photosynthetic capacity, this culture has also been considered an alternative source of renewable energy. Six clones of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) were evaluated under five levels of nitrogen fertilization (100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 kg·N·ha-1), in a randomized-block design with a split-plot arrangement with three replicates, from April 2010 to December 2012, in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes— RJ, Brazil. The objective was to obtain estimates of variation in morpho-agronomic traits and biomass quality. We observed that genotypes Cameroon-Piracicaba and Gua?u I/Z2 have great potential to be used, with maximum dry matter yields of 60.97 and 44.10 t·ha-1 per cut for energy purposes among the studied genotypes.
Highlights
Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) is a tropical species of the family Poaceae with a high potential for biomass production
For the morpho-agronomic traits shown in Table 1—number of plants per meter (NT), plant height (HGT), stem diameter (SDM), percentage of stem (%STEM), and percentage of dry matter (%DM)—there was no genotype × nitrogen interaction effect (P > 0.05), indicating independence among the factors
The interaction had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on all other traits, but effect at significance level of 1% was only seen on dry matter yield (DMY)
Summary
Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) is a tropical species of the family Poaceae with a high potential for biomass production. There appears to be a large genetic variability in this species [4]-[6], so one can assume the existence of an excellent opportunity for success in processes of selection of cultivars and optimization of inputs aiming at a high biomass-production potential [7]. There has been an intense search for varieties to be used for biomass production that are adapted to the different ecosystems in the state of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), have faster growth, greater productivity, better energy efficiency, greater efficiency in the use of nutrients, and more equitable distribution of the dry matter production throughout the year, and are resistant to pests and diseases
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