Effects of Seed Rate and Harvesting Stage on Agronomic Performance and Quality Traits of Rhodes Grass (Chloris gayana K.) in Northwestern Ethiopia

The experiment was conducted in 2018 cropping season with the objective of evaluating the effects of harvesting stage and seed rate on agronomic performance and quality traits of Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana K.) grown in northwestern Ethiopia under rain fed conditions. A factorial experiment was conducted using two factors of main factor harvesting stages in three levels (60, 90 and 120 day) and the sub factor of seed rate in three levels (5, 10 and 15 kg/ha) using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Data were collected for morphological traits such as plant height, tillers number, leaf length, leaf number per plant and quality traits such as Crude Protein (CP%), total ash, Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF%), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF%) and Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL%). The data were subjected to ANOVA using SAS software. Results showed significant effects of seed rate by harvesting stage interaction on all plant morphological traits, DM yield and quality traits (P < 0.05). As the seed rate and harvesting stage increased, there was an increase in tiller number, leaf length, plant height, NDF and ADL and ADF%. There were significant (P < 0.05) increments in DM yield as the result of descending seed rate and advanced maturity. Also, CP and total ash were markedly decreased as the harvesting stages were increased. It could be concluded that both seed rate and harvesting stage are important agronomic practices in Rhodes grass production; hence, 90 days harvesting stage and lower level of seed rate (5 kg/ha) are recommended for better yield and quality traits of Rhodes grass.