Determination of Appropriate Cutting time of Perennial Elite Lowland Adaptive Forage Grass Species of Dirk Ayifera/Andropogon Gayanus/ 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 stage of Dirk Ayifera(Andropogon Gayanus) 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 forage yield agronomic traits and chemical composition in randomized complete block design with four replications. Data on plant height (Ph), leaf to stem ratio (LSR), fresh biomass yield (FBY), dry matter yield (DMY) 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 yield and measured agronomic traits. The combined analysis for Ph significantly (P<0.05) different, ranging from 191.56 to 231.25cm with a mean of 217.73cm. 75%heading cutting gave the highest mean Ph followed by 100%, 50%, 25%, and 10%heading while before heading cutting stage gave the lowest over years. The highest mean DMY was recorded in 50%heading (15.48t/ha) followed by 75%heading (13.74 t/ha) 10%heading (12.32t/ha),100%heading (12.14t/ha),25%heading (11.79t/ha and BH (8.59t/ha). The combined analysis indicated that DMY varied significantly (P<0.05) between before heading and the other five treatments and the yield ranged from 8.59 to 15.48 t/ha with a mean of 12.35 t/ha. CP content were significantly(P<0.05) different, which ranged from 6.07 to 7.59% with a mean of 6.66%. It is suggested that Dirk Ayifera(Andropogon Gayanus) should be harvested at appropriate time in order to have high nutritive values with relatively high biomass hay production. Therefore, among tested treatments cutting Dirk Ayifera(Andropogon Gayanus) grass at 10%heading stage is recommended for higher biomass and good quality hay production and for future works it is good to confirm this harvesting stage by observing animal response