EFFECT OF PLANTING DATES AND NITROGEN LEVELS ON GROWTH, FODDER YIELDS OF BLUEPANIC Panicum antidotale Retz.

Abstract

The experiment carried out in Al- Muthanna University research (800 m away from Samawah City Center) during the summer seasons 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 to study the effect of three planting dates 5thApril, 20thApril and 5th May and five levels of nitrogen fertilization (0, 100, 150, 200 and 250 kg N ha-1) and their interaction on growth, green forage yield of Panicum antidotale Retz.. Ten cutting managements were taken. The experiment was designed in a randomized complete blocks (RCBD) in a Factorial arrangement with three replications. The results showed that sowing dates on 5th May gave the highest mean of plant height at the 4th, 5th, 6th,7th,8th cuts respectively 138.68, 147.00, 139.00, 146.50,149.50 cm, number of tillers 303.90 ,317.70,479.80 ,543.40 ,421.40, 451.30, 483.20, 475.80 ,483.20 tiller m-2 for the 1st, 7nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th,9th,10th cuts respectively, green forage yield 31.83, 36.55,44.51, 37.59, 50.91, 53.14,35.05 t ha-1 for the 7nd, 4th, 5th,6th, 7th, 8th,10th cuts respectively. The results indicated a significant superiority in the level of fertilizer 758 kg N ha-1 on plant height 138.3 ,136.2 ,144.3 ,143.6,147.4,140.0 ,151.6 ,153.5 ,142.0 ,139.2,149.2 ,145.3 139.0,126.7 cm for the all cutting respectively, number of tillers 536.50,459.00,434.50 tiller m-2 for the 4th, 7th,8th cuts respectively, green forage yield 25.79 ,40.62 ,33.68 ,50.83 ,57.52 ,55.46 ,45.37 ,37.33 t ha-1 for the 1st, 3rd , 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th 10th cuts respectively.