Napier (penisetum purpureum) agronomic response under desmodium (desmodium intortum) influence at ubiri village Lushoto district, Tanzania
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Date
2022
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tanzania Journal of Forestry and Nature Conservation
Abstract
The scarcity of high-quality forage to
animals is one of the major limiting factors
to dairy productivity improvement in
Lushoto District. This is attributed to soil
fertility losses due to soil erosion,
deforestation and the decrease or
abandonment of the use of mineral fertilizer.
The objective of the present study was to
assess the Napier Agronomic response under
Desmodium influence for dairy producers in
Ubiri Village, Lushoto District. Two
treatments were used; Desmodium and
number of harvests established using
Randomized Complete Block Design with
three replications. Data collected included
counting the number of tillers per bunch,
measuring the height of tillers (m), leaf area
indices and biomass yield (tha -1 ) in each
treatment in their respective replications.
Data were analyzed by two-way analysis of
variance in R software. The results show
that, during the third harvest (28 weeks)
Desmodium significantly (P<0.05) increased
the tiller number, leaf area index (LAI) and
the biomass yield (tha -1 ) of the grasses by
41%, 76%, and 73% respectively. It was
concluded that, Desmodium had positive
influence on the agronomic performance of hybrid Napier grass. For sustainable
provision of benefits to livestock keepers, we
recommend that, integration of forage crops
and Desmodium should be promoted.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Biomass, Desmodium legume, Harvest, Leaf Area index, Napier grass, Tiller