Title
Cultivar-by-cutting height interactions in Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) grown in a tropical rain-fed environment
Date Issued
01 May 2010
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
A field study was conducted in Thailand under a rain-fed environment to determine the effect of four different cutting heights above ground level and two closing dates on dry matter (DM) production, yield components, and fodder quality of five different cultivars of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach), all treatments cut with the same frequency of approximately 4 weeks. Eighteen quantitative trait measurements were used to investigate the interactions between cultivar diversity and cutting regimes. Principal-component analysis (PCA) showed a clustering of two distinct cultivars and another group of cultivars in one cluster without obvious structure. There was also a clear clustering of the control (0 cm cutting height) across all cultivars whereas other cutting heights affected growth differently according to cultivar. The optimal cutting regime for obtaining high DM yield depended on the genetic background and did not relate to a reduction in the number of vegetative buds for the cultivars with a basal shooting pattern. For the cultivars with higher DM yield arising from high stubble height, the DM was differently distributed into leaf and stem material. Before cuttings, the tiller number was reduced in the control plots but not in the plots with more lenient cutting height. Average tiller yield increased with increasing cutting height to reach a maximum at 20-cm cutting height. Average harvested culm length was constant for the four cutting heights. The variation in a number of plant traits, arising from cultivar diversity, can be altered by agronomic practices, thereby causing potentially contradictory results. Defining specific interactions of cultivar-by-cutting height treatments and analysing these with PCA proved to be a useful approach for visualising clusters from multiple measurements. The proposed approach for analysing data could serve as a model for other trials with similar interactions between cultivar diversity and agronomic treatments.
Start page
199
End page
210
Volume
60
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Agronomía
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-77949522182
Source
Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica Section B: Soil and Plant Science
ISSN of the container
16511913
Sponsor(s)
We thank the staff of Suwanvajokkasikit Research Station for their assistance. This experiment was supported by the National Research Council of Thailand and Kasetsart University Research and Development Institute. A grant from the Pedersholm Foundation was given to the first author for leading the writing of this manuscript. We also thank Dr Sean Mayes, Mr Florian Stadler, and several anonymous reviewers for critical comments on the manuscript.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
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