Dry Matter Yields and Forage Quality of Grass Alone and Grass Plus Legume Mixture in Relation to Cattle Manure Rates and Production Methods

This work was carried out to determine dry matter yields and forage quality of the purple guinea grass and grass plus legumes grown on Korat soil series. The 3 production methods were used viz., without legume (PM1), with Verano stylo, Stylosanthes hamata cv., Verano, (PM2) and with Wynn cassia, Chamaecrista rotundifolia cv., Wynn, (PM3). Dry cattle manure rates of 0 t ha super( -1), 8 t ha super( -1), 16 t ha super( -1) and 24 t ha super( -1) were used. They were subjected to a 3x4 factorial arranged in a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. The results showed that an increase in cattle manure rates highly increased both dry matter yields (DMY) of the grass alone and grass plus legumes. The high DMY of 10,596 tons ha super( -1) and 10,673 tons ha super( -1) were attained with the PM2 and the PM3, respectively. An increase in cattle manure rates highly decreased crude protein of the grass alone and grass plus legumes mixture.