Influence of Cutting Date and Nitrogen Fertilizer Levels on Growth, Forage Yield, and Quality of Sudan Grass in a Semiarid Environment
Table 3
Effect of the cutting date and nitrogen fertilizer on the number of shoots per plant, leaf area, dry forage weight per plant, and dry forage yield of Sudan grass (tons/ha) during 2016 and 2017 summer seasons.
Treatments and interactions
Number of shoots/plant
Leaf area (cm2)/plant
Dry forage weight (g)/plant
Dry forage yield (ton/ha)
1st cut
2nd cut
3rd cut
1st cut
2nd cut
3rd cut
1st cut
2nd cut
3rd cut
1st cut
2nd cut
3rd cut
TDY
Season 2016
Cutting date (D)
Early
1.581b
1.637a
1.150a
2523.6b
1516.3b
1140.3a
41.11b
46.60b
37.95a
10.14
10.02
4.16b
24.31
Late
1.911a
1.556b
0.778b
2841.6a
1648.2a
1110.3b
55.05a
64.01a
30.94b
12.51
10.03
5.07a
27.62
F test
NS
NS
NS
Nitrogen levels (kg N/ha/cut)
35 kg
1.255c
1.118c
0.667c
1998.3c
1385.4c
1043.3c
38.59c
45.17c
28.98c
6.87c
9.40b
4.17b
20.45c
70 kg
1.767b
1.562b
0.967b
2745.7b
1480.6b
1109.9b
48.24b
50.50b
33.49b
11.04b
10.04ab
4.11b
25.19b
105 kg
2.217a
2.108a
1.258a
3303.9a
1880.8a
1222.7a
56.76a
69.30a
42.37a
16.06a
10.64a
5.56a
32.26a
F test
Interactions D × N
NS
Season 2017
Cutting date (D)
Early
0.722
1.444a
0.689
2180.5b
2648.9a
1060.6a
52.45b
44.36b
23.48a
6.20b
5.62b
2.74
14.56b
Late
0.711
1.156b
0.533
2573.8a
2349.8b
947.10b
76.65a
71.82a
20.52b
10.00a
9.09a
2.45
21.55a
F test
NS
NS
NS
Nitrogen levels (kg N/ha/cut)
35 kg
0.633
1.033b
0.467b
1896.3c
1851.0c
870.8b
53.85c
45.84c
19.74c
7.48c
6.61c
2.21b
16.30b
70 kg
0.650
1.200b
0.633ab
2510.1b
2462.0b
869.6b
69.28a
60.53b
21.54b
8.28b
7.92a
2.42b
18.62a
105 kg
0.867
1.667a
0.733a
2725.0a
3184.8a
1271.2a
69.92a
63.31a
23.52a
8.54a
7.54b
3.17a
19.26a
F test
NS
Interactions D × N
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
NS
a, b, cSignificance level between the treatments, whereby ‘a’ is higher than ‘b’, ‘b’ higher than ‘c’, and ‘ab’ is of equal significance, in the respective order. Significance at 0.05 and 0.01 levels; NSnot significant
