Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels

In the semi-arid and arid environments of Sub-Sharan Africa, forage availability throughout the year is insufficient and highly limited during the dry seasons due to limited precipitation. Thus, the identification of drought stress-tolerant forage cultivars is one of the main activities in forage de...

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Main Authors: Habte, Ermias, Teshome, Abel, Muktar, Meki S., Assefa, Yilikal, Negawo, Alemayehu T., Machado, J.C., Silva Ledo, F.J. da, Jones, Christopher S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: MDPI 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125070
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author Habte, Ermias
Teshome, Abel
Muktar, Meki S.
Assefa, Yilikal
Negawo, Alemayehu T.
Machado, J.C.
Silva Ledo, F.J. da
Jones, Christopher S.
author_browse Assefa, Yilikal
Habte, Ermias
Jones, Christopher S.
Machado, J.C.
Muktar, Meki S.
Negawo, Alemayehu T.
Silva Ledo, F.J. da
Teshome, Abel
author_facet Habte, Ermias
Teshome, Abel
Muktar, Meki S.
Assefa, Yilikal
Negawo, Alemayehu T.
Machado, J.C.
Silva Ledo, F.J. da
Jones, Christopher S.
author_sort Habte, Ermias
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In the semi-arid and arid environments of Sub-Sharan Africa, forage availability throughout the year is insufficient and highly limited during the dry seasons due to limited precipitation. Thus, the identification of drought stress-tolerant forage cultivars is one of the main activities in forage development programs. In this study, Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus), an important forage crop in Eastern and Central Africa that is broadly adapted to produce across tropical environments, was evaluated for its water use efficiency and production performance under field drought stress conditions. Eighty-four Napier grass genotypes were evaluated for their drought stress tolerance from 2018 to 2020 using agro-morphological and feed quality traits under two soil moisture stress regimes during the dry season, i.e., moderate (MWS) and severe (SWS) water stress conditions, and under rainfed conditions in the wet season (wet). Overall, the results indicated the existence of genotype variation for the traits studied. In general, the growth and productivity of the genotypes declined under SWS compared to MWS conditions. High biomass-yielding genotypes with enhanced WUE were consistently observed across harvests in each soil moisture stress regime. In addition, the top biomass-yielding genotypes produced the highest annual crude protein yield, indicating the possibility of developing high-feed-quality Napier grass genotypes for drought stress environments.
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spelling CGSpace1250702025-12-08T10:29:22Z Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels Habte, Ermias Teshome, Abel Muktar, Meki S. Assefa, Yilikal Negawo, Alemayehu T. Machado, J.C. Silva Ledo, F.J. da Jones, Christopher S. feed quality forage biomass pennisetum purpureum soil water content water use forage ecology In the semi-arid and arid environments of Sub-Sharan Africa, forage availability throughout the year is insufficient and highly limited during the dry seasons due to limited precipitation. Thus, the identification of drought stress-tolerant forage cultivars is one of the main activities in forage development programs. In this study, Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus), an important forage crop in Eastern and Central Africa that is broadly adapted to produce across tropical environments, was evaluated for its water use efficiency and production performance under field drought stress conditions. Eighty-four Napier grass genotypes were evaluated for their drought stress tolerance from 2018 to 2020 using agro-morphological and feed quality traits under two soil moisture stress regimes during the dry season, i.e., moderate (MWS) and severe (SWS) water stress conditions, and under rainfed conditions in the wet season (wet). Overall, the results indicated the existence of genotype variation for the traits studied. In general, the growth and productivity of the genotypes declined under SWS compared to MWS conditions. High biomass-yielding genotypes with enhanced WUE were consistently observed across harvests in each soil moisture stress regime. In addition, the top biomass-yielding genotypes produced the highest annual crude protein yield, indicating the possibility of developing high-feed-quality Napier grass genotypes for drought stress environments. 2022-10-01 2022-10-18T05:48:49Z 2022-10-18T05:48:49Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125070 en Open Access MDPI Habte, E., Teshome, A., Muktar, M.S., Assefa, Y., Negawo, A.T., Machado, J.C., Ledo, F.J.d.S. and Jones, C.S. 2022. Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels. Plants 11(19):2549.
spellingShingle feed quality
forage biomass
pennisetum purpureum
soil water content
water use
forage
ecology
Habte, Ermias
Teshome, Abel
Muktar, Meki S.
Assefa, Yilikal
Negawo, Alemayehu T.
Machado, J.C.
Silva Ledo, F.J. da
Jones, Christopher S.
Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels
title Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels
title_full Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels
title_fullStr Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels
title_full_unstemmed Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels
title_short Productivity and feed quality performance of Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus) genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels
title_sort productivity and feed quality performance of napier grass cenchrus purpureus genotypes growing under different soil moisture levels
topic feed quality
forage biomass
pennisetum purpureum
soil water content
water use
forage
ecology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125070
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