Avaliação do capim tobiatã panicum maximum cv. tobiatã, como alternativa para uso em capineira.

Abstract

Elephant grass is practically the only forage used in a cutting regime, for voluminous supplementation of the dairy herd in almost the entire country. However, it does not produce viable seeds, and is multiplied vegetatively, increasing costs and hindering the formation of grass beds. The project aims to verify the possibility of using this cultivar as a cutting grass in dairy farms in the Bragantina region, evaluating its property and quality under various levels of population density (6,950, 12,500, 18,050, 23,600 and 29,160 plants/ha), cutting height (0, 15, 30, 45, 60cm from the ground) and interval between cuts (2, 6, 10, 14, and 18 weeks). The experiment was conducted in the Terra Alta Experimental Field. The production of green and dry matter and the proportion stem, leaf and dead material were evaluated. After each cut, samples were taken to determine crude protein and digestibility. Twenty-six, four, two and two cuts were made on the plots at two, six, ten fourteen and eighteen weeks respectively. At the general uniformity cut for imposing treatments the average dry matter production was 6,864 Kg/ha. The average leaf percentages at the cutting intervals of two, six, ten, fourteen and eighteen weeks were: 100%, 92%, 74% and 90%, respectively (1st Phase of the experiment). Based on the results obtained in the first phase, it was concluded that the best cutting interval is 10 weeks. There were no significant differences in cutting height and population density and Tobiatã grass can be cut at any height or population density studied.