Abstract

GONZALEZ, Ignacio; BETANCOURT, María; FUENMAYOR, Abdénago  and  LUGO, María. Production and chemical composition of forages de dos species of grass Elephant (Pennisetum sp.) in Noroccidente de Venezuela. Zootecnia Trop. [online]. 2011, vol.29, n.1, pp.103-112. ISSN 0798-7269.

The objective of the investigation was to evaluate the effect of cultivar and the age of maturity or harvest on the chemical composition and the yield in two species of Grass elephant Pennisetum sp. (Green and Purple), under conditions of very dry tropical forest West of Venezuela. The experiment was carried out in a cultivated area of approximately one year of established, sowed in arrays to 1,00 m of separation, of which an experimental area of 1.170 m2 (90 x 13) was selected, for the investigation. The experimental design was factorial 5 x 2, with 2 cultivars and 5 ages of maturity or it harvests (14, 28, 42, 56 and 70) days, with three repetitions, to measure its effect on the partially dry matter variable (MS), gross protein (PB), fiber neutral detergent (FND), fiber acid detergent (FAD), lignina acid detergent (LAD), ash (CZ), yield of green matter (RMV) and yield of dry matter (RMS). High potentiality of production of biomass was observed for both cultivars, of which cultivating green elephant resulted superior with a (P<0,01) cultivating green elephant with yields averages of 10,2 t/ha MS, while the best values (17,1%) in PB were contributed by cultivating lived elephant. For the components alone cellular wall there was answer for FND with values of 55,7% for cultivating green elephant. The parameters of chemical composition and yield increased with the age of maturity, while the protein contents and ash diminished. The grass elephant (Pennisetum sp) like court grass, show a high potential for the production and quality of biomass, however as any tropical grass, it reduces their nutritious value with the age of maturity, that which requires of the establishment of handling strategies for their efficient use during the year.

Keywords : forage; Pennisetun sp; chemical composition; yield.