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Forage production and nitrogen nutrition in three grasses under coconut tree shades in the humid-tropics

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Title Forage production and nitrogen nutrition in three grasses under coconut tree shades in the humid-tropics
Not Available
 
Creator C. B. Pandey
S. K. Verma
J. C. Dagar
R. C. Srivastava
 
Subject Competitive interaction Soil moisture Shoot/root ratio Net soil N-mineralization rate High rainfall Tree shades
 
Description Not Available
Reduction in forage production (FP)
under trees in the humid tropics is well known, but
information on how different levels of nitrogen
(N) fertilizer influence FP under trees is meager.
The present study reports effects of four N fertilizer
levels (0, 60, 80 and 120 kg ha-1 N) on net soil N
mineralization rate (NMR) and soil moisture (SM),
FP, shoot biomass/root biomass ratio (SB/RB), N
concentration in SB, N uptake and nitrogen use
efficiency (NUE) of three grasses [guinea (Panicum
maximum Jacq.), para (Brachiaria mutica (Forssk)
Stapf) and hybrid-napier (Pennisetum purpureum
Schumach.)] under three canopy positions [under
canopy (UC, representing high shade), between
canopy (BC, representing low shade) and open] of
coconut trees (Cocos nucifera L.) in a coconut based
silvopastoral system in the humid tropical climate of
South Andaman Island of India. The study was
performed for two annual cycles (2005–2006 and
2006–2007). The hypotheses tested were: (1) FP
would decline under tree shades, both in N fertilized
as well as no N fertilized conditions, when SM was
not growth limiting in the open. However, amount of
decline in the FP would depend on grass species and
intensity of shades i.e., higher was the shade greater
would be the decline; (2) N fertilizer would increase
FP under tree shades, but the increase depended on
grass species, intensity of shades and amount of N
applied. Amount of N applied, however, would not
annul the shades effects when SM was not growth
limiting in the open. The study revealed that the tree
reduced light 59% under UC and 32% under BC
positions, but the N fertilizer levels increased NMR
by 11–51% under UC and 3–44% under BC positions
compared to the open. SM did not differ across the
canopy positions. Under all situations, FP of all
grasses declined under UC (47–78%) and BC
(18–32%) positions compared to the open; the decline
was greater in Hybrid-napier than Guinea and Para
grasses. Forage production of all grasses increased
with N fertilizer increments under all canopy positions reaching 32 t ha-1 dry matters for hybrid-napier
at 120 kg ha-1 N in the open. Both guinea and para
grasses outyielded hybrid-napier grass under UC but
not under BC or in the open. N concentration in the
forage (SB) also increased as N fertilizer level
increased. These observations support our hypotheses
and suggest that forage production under coconut
palms can be increased by the application of N
fertilizer with both guinea and para grasses being
more productive than hybrid-napier grass under the
high shade. Where light conditions are better, hybridnapier would produce more forage than the other
species
Not Available
 
Date 2019-07-22T11:29:27Z
2019-07-22T11:29:27Z
2011-05-28
 
Type Research Paper
 
Identifier Not Available
http://krishi.icar.gov.in/jspui/handle/123456789/21645
 
Language English
 
Publisher Springer