Vol. 12, Special Issue 8 (2023)

Author(s):
Ravindra Dombar, B Ramachandra, C Kathirvelan, KS Giridhar and BC Umashankar

Abstract:
Cultivation of high yielding quality fodders is need of the hour to meet the demand of high yielding dairy animals. Super Napier (SNF) is the one of the high yielding perennial fodder verity well accepted by the formers for cultivation. A crucial factor in producing high-quality fodder is the harvesting interval. In the present study, samples were analysed for their chemical composition in fodders harvested at different intervals. Among the five harvesting stages, the first cut was significantly (p<0.01) higher in dry matter (DM) content with lower crude protein (CP) percent. The EE, NFE and AIA content of the SNF did not differ significantly between the harvesting intervals. First cut appears to be more mature with a higher portion of the stem part yielding higher dry matter. Fodder harvested after 90 days of plantation may yield higher protein containing quality fodder.