Growth and Yield of Cajanus Cajan Forage at Different Cutting Interval of Regrowth Defoliation

Abstract

Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp is Fabaceae family (alt. Leguminosae). It has a different common name the most common is congo pea, pigeon pea or yellow dahl. The morphological of the plant is an annual or short-lived perennial shrub or small tree with leaves trifoliate, alternate, set in a spiral around the stem, flowers usually yellow and a flat pods (5-9 cm long, 12-13 mm wide, containing 2-9 oval to round seeds varying in color from light beige to dark brown) that can grow up to one to four meters and usually with an erect woody at the base. Cajanus cajan primarily grown as a grain crop for seed for human consumption with over 4 million hectares cultivated worldwide. The foliage may be cut and fed to livestock fresh or conserved. This study was conducted to evaluate the growth and yield of Cajanus cajan forage at different cutting intervals of regrowth defoliation. The seeds were collected from South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The research was conducted in Field 15 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. The regrowth was harvested after 3 months plot establishment period. The regrowth of Cajanus cajan forages at 4-weeks, 8-weeks and 12-weeks old were harvested to determine the quantity and quality. The results indicate that the different cutting intervals had significant effect (P<0.05) on plant height (68, 111, and 137 cm), fresh weight (38, 142, and 192 g), dry matter (14, 52.5, and 71.2 g), leaf to stem ratio (3.0, 1.3, and 1.8 g) and yield of Cajanus cajan forage (1.5, 5.5, and 7.5 ton/ha/cutting). The older cutting age had increased the yield. However, the best cutting interval of Cajanus cajan as ruminant feed for optimal production was 8 weeks (33 ton/ha/year).