Evaluation of biomass production and nutritive value of nine Panicum maximum ecotypes in Central region of Benin

maximum were evaluated in central region of Benin with an average 1100 mm annual rainfall during 3 years for ley pasture without any fertiliser input. Three cutting regimes (3-10-3, 5-6-5 and 6-4-6-week) were tested for dry matter production (DM), crude protein (CP) content, CP production and mineral (Ca, Mg, P, K, Na, Zn, Mn, Cu and Co) contents. Significant differences were observed between ecotypes (p<0.001), cutting regimes (p<0.001) and years (p<0.001) for DM and CP production. Ecotype and cutting regime influenced significantly CP content (p<0.05) but year had no influence. Forage harvested from 310-3-week regime produced significantly (p<0.05) more DM (4742 kg DMha -1 ) than 5-6-5-week (3635 kg DMha -1 ) or 6-4-6-week cutting regime (3789 kg DMha -1 ). But the reverse effect was observed for CP content as 3-10-3-week regime (5.68 gkg -1 DM) had significantly (p<0.05) lower CP than those of 5-6-5