FIBRE FRACTION OF F1 PENNISETUM PURPUREUM AS AFFECTED BY FERTILIZER TYPES AND CUTTING FREQUENCY
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to investigate the fibre fraction of F1 Pennisetum purputreum as influenced by fertilizer types and cutting frequency.
The experiment was laid in a 2x2 factorial in a completely randomize design. The treatment includes two fertilizer types (Urea and poultry manure) and three cutting frequency intervals (4, 8 and 12weeks). Data collected include Neutral detergent fibre (NDF), Acid detergent fibre (ADF), Acid detergent lignin (ADL), Hemicellulose and Cellulose. All data collected were subjected to one was analysis of variance and significance means were determined by the same statistical package
F1 Pennisetum purputreum fertilized with poultry manure and harvested at age 8weeks recorded the highest fibre fractions NDF(46.61%), ADF (42.02%), ADL (26.70%) and cellulose (22.11%) while the lowest fibre fractions was recorded for those fertilized with urea fertilizer and harvested between 4 and 8weeks. The hemicellulose contents were not affected by the fertilizer types and age at harvest.
It could be concluded that fertilizing F1 Pennisetum purputreum with Urea fertilizer and harvested between age 4 and 8weeks reduce the fibre fractions thereby improving the digestibility of F1 Pennisetum purputreum.
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