Growth analysis of (Panicum maximum Jacq.) Cv. Mombasa

Objective. To evaluate Guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) cv Mombasa not only dynamic growing and cumulative fodder but also determining its optimal period for harvesting. Materials and methods. Under a five-repetition random design, we assessed eight treatments that consisted in successive cuttings every ten days during seasonal time. At the beginning of each season, we divided the land by quadrants (0.64 m2) so that we could perform a uniformity cutting size of 5 cm height at ground level. Assessments in plant height, cumulative forage, botanical and morphological composition, growth rate (GR), leaf area ratio; and rations in leaf:stem and leaf:no leaf were carried out. Additionally, we analyzed data by means of SAS with MIXED and GLM procedures. Results. Cumulative forage was advanced in summer and spring (p≤0.05). Both forage yielding and GR increased gradually until leaves' growth stabilized; so subsequent increments in forage were due to an increased amount in stem and dead material, just when GR declined. Growth rate was greater in summer (127 kg DM ha-1 d-1) exceeded GR, spring, autumn and winter by 26, 44 and 75 %) Conclusions. Results have suggested that an optimal handling of cv. Mombasa and a maximum production of its forage in the state of Chiapas could be obtained if it is harvested every 40, 50, 40 and 30 days during spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively.