Nr. Degenhart et Gw. Burton, DRY-MATTER CONCENTRATION AS AN INDEX OF IN-VITRO DRY-MATTER DISAPPEARANCE IN BERMUDAGRASS, Crop science, 33(4), 1993, pp. 862-864
Simple and cost-effective procedures for predicting forage quality are
needed. The objective of this study was to determine if dry matter co
ncentration (DMC) could be used as an index of in vitro dry matter dis
appearance (IVDMD) in bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.). Data were from two
bermudagrass trials at Tifton, GA. The 1983 and 1985 trials contained
32 and 28 entries replicated five times. Plots were harvested four tim
es a year for 3 yr, except in 1987 when only three harvests were taken
. A negative correlation was observed between DMC and IVDMD. Coefficie
nts of determination (r2) from the regression of entry mean IVDMD on D
MC from individual harvests ranged from 0.01 to 0.82. Entry DMC means
averaged across harvests within years provided consistent index or IVD
MD (r2 = 0.20, 0.65, 0.49, 0.57, 0.60, and 0.59). Regression coefficie
nts differed among groups of bermudagrass entries having different gen
etic backgrounds. When screening bermudagrass entries for forage IVDMD
, almost-equal-to 50% of the entries could be eliminated based on fora
ge DMC if the entries are replicated over space and time.