Determination of Appropriate Cutting Time of Perennial Elite Lowland Adaptive Forage Grass Species of Degun Gizia/Panicum Maximum/For Optimum Yield and Quality of Hay in Metekel Zone of Benishangul Gumuz

The presence of lignified forage is a major problem in lowland agro-ecology. The study was conducted at Pawe Agricultural Research Center, Pawe District, Metekel Zone, Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, Ethiopia for three consecutive years during 2016 to 2018 cropping seasons, to determine the appropriate cutting date of Degun gizia perennial forage species for optimum and quality yield of hay. Six different cutting stage Before heading but ready to heading(BH), 10%Heading, 25%Heading, 50%Heading, 75%Heading and 100%Heading of cutting were evaluated for their agronomic traits and its chemical composition in randomized complete block design with four replications. Data on plant height, leaf to stem ratio, fresh biomass yield, dry matter yield and chemical composition were analyzed using the general linear model procedures of SAS and least significance difference was used for mean comparisons. The combined analysis of variance indicated that the main effect differences among treatments, years and the interaction effects vary significantly for measured agronomic traits. The combined analysis for plant height significantly (P<0.05) different, which ranged from 140.3 to 182.1cm with a mean of 163.3cm. 75% heading cutting gave the highest mean plant height followed by 100%, 10%, 25%, and 50%heading while before heading gave the lowest over years. The highest mean dry matter yield was recorded in 75% heading (12.54t/ha) followed by 100% heading (11.94 t/ha) and 50% heading (11.55 t/ha).The combined analysis indicated that dry matter yield varied significantly (P<0.05) different between before heading and the other five treatments and the yield ranged from 6.95 to 12.54 t/ha with a mean of 10.6 t/ha. The combined analysis for CP were not significantly (P>0.05) different, which ranged from 9.3 to 10.72% with a mean of 10.2%. It is suggested that Degun gizia should be harvested at appropriate time in order to have high nutritive values with relatively high biomass production. Therefore, among tested treatments 10%heading of cutting will be promoted in the study area and similar environment.