ENERGY CONTENT OF 2 ECOTYPES OF LEUCAENA- LEUCOCEPHALA UNDER DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FERTILIZATION

A field experiment was carried out in Zulia State, Venezuela, in order to evaluate the energy content of two ecotypes of Leucaena leucocepha la; the zone is characterized as Tropical dry forest The evaluated fac tors were two ecotypes of Leucaena (CIAT 7984 and CIAT 17223), three l evels of N (0, 30 and 60 kg/ha) and three levels of P (0, 75 and 150 K g/ha). The treatments laid out in split-plot desing with three replica tions. The results showed that the ecotypes evaluated did not show sig nificantly differences for energy content (EB), with mean values of 44 36 and 3948 cal/g MS for bulk and fine fractions, respectively. The di fferent levels of N and P increased significantly (P<0.05) the content and yield of EB of the fine fraction. Gross energy content in the bul k fi action increased (P<0.05) with the application of 30 Kg N/ha, wit h 3988 cal/g MS. The levels of EB in stems was affected (P<0.05) by th e interaction N x P.