Pa. Pieterse et al., PRODUCTION, WATER-USE EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY OF 4 CULTIVARS OF PANICUM-MAXIMUM AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF NITROGEN-FERTILIZATION, Tropical grasslands, 31(2), 1997, pp. 117-123
The influence of 5 levels of N fertilisation on the growth rate and wa
ter use efficiency of 4 cultivars of Panicum maximum (Gatton, Vencidor
, Mutale and Petrie), was evaluated in a pot trial at the University o
f Pretoria. N fertilisation affected both growth rate and water use ef
ficiency significantly (P less than or equal to 0.05) and there were a
lso significant (P less than or equal to 0.05) differences between cul
tivars. Vencidor had the highest DM production, water use efficiency a
nd digestibility and the lowest NDF and ADF concentrations. Mutale, on
the other hand, had the lowest production and water use efficiency. T
he cultivars also differed in the concentrations of essential elements
, crude protein, ADF and NDE These results should be a good indication
of the relative potential of the cultivars when grown under condition
s of optimum water availability.