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Grass cutting heights of Marandu grass implanted under low technological level: Chemical composition in dry-rainy season

Sérgio Antonio Garcia Pereira Junior ; Lilian Chambó Rondena Pesqueira Silva ; Edimar Barbosa de Oliveira ; Marcella Martins Nunes Machado ; Kênia Larissa Gomes Carvalho Alves ; Ane Elise Gonçalves Pajanoti ; Rosemary Lais Galati
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Pastures correspond to 23% of the national area and, the most utilized grasses are those from Brachiaria species, with special attention to Marandu grass. The commonly used fertilizer pattern is one of the most important problems associated with pasture management, which implies low forage quality, and therefore low animal protein, as a result of low levels or even no use of fertilizer. Because of these considerations, the aim of this work was to evaluate the chemical composition of Marandu grass managed at low fertilization and different cutting heights (30, 45, 60 and 75 cm) at the first dry-rainy season from April to July 2015. It was carried out at Federal University of Mato Grosso, and chemical analyzes were performed at Animal Nutrition Laboratory. The implantation of grass was in November 2014 and cutting uniformization in April. During rainy-dry season, was obtained two cuts for 30 cm and just one to the others. Experimental design was completely randomized, with four treatments (cutting height) and six repetitions. Marandu grass, was harvest using square 0.25 m? when forage reached the established heights (30, 45, 60 and 75 cm), leaving residue of 15 cm. Forage was dried, ground and it was analyzed the contents of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and indigestible neutral detergent fiber (iNDF). Data were, analyzed by ANOVA, and the effects of treatment were assessed using Tukey test. At 75 cm, DM (95.4%, P < 0.0001) and MO (94.87%, P = 0.0001) contents presented the highest values, while CP (8.66%) was the lowest (P = 0.0000). For 30 and 45 cm, contents of NDF (P = 0.0002), ADF (P = 0.0001) and iNDF (P = 0.0381) showed the lowest values. It was, concluded that at low fertilization conditions, in the first year of implantation, for higher crude protein content, lower fiber and indigestible fiber, 30 cm is the recommended height.