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Defoliation Management of Bahiagrass Germplasm Affects Dry Matter Yield and Herbage Nutritive Value

^a The Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Pkwy., Ardmore, OK 73401
^b Agronomy Dep., Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0500
^c North Florida Research and Education Center, Marianna, FL 32446
^d Natural Resource Conservation Service, Wauchula, FL 33873
^e USDA-ARS Subtropical Agricultural Research Station, Brooksville, FL 34601-4672

^* Corresponding author (lesollen{at}ufl.edu).

Bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum Flügge) cultivars are daylength sensitive and have minimal cool-season production. A new bahiagrass breeding line is less daylength sensitive and more cold tolerant, but its dry matter (DM) yield and nutritive value responses to defoliation treatments are unknown. A 3-yr field experiment studied effects of two stubble heights (4 and 8 cm) and two harvest frequencies (7 and 21 d) on diploids ‘Pensacola’, ‘Tifton 9’, and the less photoperiod-sensitive, cold-adapted (PCA) Cycle 4 bahiagrass; and the tetraploids ‘Argentine’ and Tifton 7. Stubble height had minimal effect on responses measured. When harvested every 7 d, Cycle 4 had the lowest and Argentine the greatest yield (8.4 vs. 11.8 Mg DM ha^–1). When harvested every 21 d, Cycle 4 yield was similar to the other diploids (10.6 Mg DM ha^–1) and less than the tetraploids (12.6 Mg DM ha^–1). Cycle 4 yield distribution was similar to other diploids and generally greater in spring but less in summer than the tetraploids. Across defoliation treatments, Cycle 4 in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM) averaged 546 to 562 g kg^–1 and was greater than all entries in 2006 and all but Tifton 9 in 2005. These data indicate that Cycle 4 was less productive than other bahiagrasses when harvested every 7 d during the warm season, as productive as other diploids at 21-d harvest intervals, and slightly more digestible than other currently used bahiagrasses. Inferior yield under frequent harvest may imply less defoliation tolerance, thus persistence of PCA Cycle 4 should be studied further.

Abbreviations: CP, crude protein • DM, dry matter • IVDOM, in vitro digestible organic matter • PCA, less photoperiod-sensitive, cold-adapted

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Received for publication December 21, 2008.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. M. Interrante, L. E. Sollenberger, A. R. Blount, S. W. Coleman, U. R. White, and K. Liu Defoliation Management of Bahiagrass Germplasm Affects Cover and Persistence-Related Responses Agron. J., November 1, 2009; 101(6): 1381 - 1387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]