Tropical Grasslands (2002) Volume 36, 9096 The effect of cutting interval on the growth of Leucaena leucocephala and three associated grasses in Thailand S. TUDSRI1, Y. ISHII3, H. NUMAGUCHI3 and S. PRASANPANICH2
1Department of Agronomy, and Abstract
Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) was grown with 3 grasses: ruzi (Brachiaria ruziziensis), and dwarf napier and Taiwan A25 (both Pennisetum purpureum) under rainfed conditions in Thailand. The pastures were cut at 20, 30 and 40-day intervals for 840 days. Dwarf napier produced more total and leaf dry matter than Taiwan A25 and ruzi (P < 0.05). Yield of all grass species increased with increasing cutting intervals. Leucaena yield was generally unaffected by cutting interval. However, at 40-day cutting intervals, leucaena dry matter yield was lower in the dwarf napier plots than in the ruzi and Taiwan A25 plots, which produced similar legume yields (P > 0.05). Growing leucaena with dwarf napier gave the lowest total legume dry matter yield (P > 0.05). Less frequent cutting increased total dry matter yields in all combinations through increases in grass yield. Maximum dry matter yield (41.5 t/ha) was produced by leucaena-dwarf napier. |