Produção de Matéria Seca e Qualidade do Capim-Elefante (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) Cultivar Roxo em Diferentes Idades de Corte

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the total dry matter (DM) production, leaf/stem ratio, percentage of leaf and stem and nutritive value of the elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) cultivar Roxo under four cutting ages (40, 60, 80 and 100 days) from July of 1994 to December of 1995 in the wet land region of the Paraíba State. The cultivar was stablished in plots of 3,0 × 5,0 m and plant spacing of 0,70 × 0,80 m, using a completely randomized design with four replicates. The total dry matter production increased with the cutting ages intervals (quadratic relationship), with the highest production of 30,9 t/ha at 100 days. The percentage of leaf and leaf/stem ratio decreased, while the percentage of stem linearly increased with the increase of the cutting ages. There were a decreased in the crude protein contents and cell content, while the neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber contents increased linearly with the increase of the cutting age.