ROTATIONAL GRAZING SYSTEM OF DWARF ELEPHANT GRASS PASTURE BY BREEDING BEEF COWS AT THE FIRST YEAR AFTER ESTABLISHMENT

Abstract

ABSTRACT An intensive grazing in the dwarf-late (DL) elephant grass pasture in a rainy season was conducted under the rotational grazing system. Four paddocks of DL elephant grass pasture, which had a 5 (20 m × 25 m) of area/paddock, were grazed at 3 cycles of one-week grazing with 3-week rest period by 3 heads of breeding beef cows from May to November 2003. The plant height, leaf area index and ratio of leaf blade to stem were the highest, while tiller number increased and herbage mass tended to increase as grazing accured, except for the first grazing cycle. Herbage consumption, rate of herbage consumption and dry matter intake tended to decrease in three paddocks from the first to the third cycle. The average of dry matter intake was10.2-14.5 g DM/kg/LW/day over the four paddocks and the average daily gain was 0.09 kg/head day. The carrying capacities was estimated at 1016 (annual total 1224 CD/ha). Thus, DL elephant grass pasture can expand the grazing period for beef cows in a rainy season. Keywords : Dwarf elephant grass, Herbage mass, Plant characters, Rotational grazing