HARYANI H.*, NORLINDAWATI A.P., NORFADZRIN F., ASWANIMIYUNI A. AND AZMAN A.
Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) has been the most promising and high yielding fodder giving dry matter yields. This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of cutting intervals on the yield and nutrient composition of six cultivars of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) which is 3rd Generation Napier, India Napier, Kobe Napier, Red Napier, Taiwan Napier and Zanzibar Napier. The grasses were cut close to the ground level to get a uniform stand on day 70 after planting and the cutting intervals were at 35 and 42 days and carried out for 3 times. After each harvest, the rates of maintenance fertiliser used were 150 kg of nitrogen, 60 kg of phosphorus and 100 kg of potassium per hectare per year. Harvested plant material was weighed, pre-dried in a forced-air drying oven at 60 ?C overnight before grinding. Ground samples were used to determine dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF) and metabolised energy. The data were analysed using Statistical Analysis System (SAS?) followed by Tukey?s post-hoc test. AP value of less than 0.05 (p<0.05) are considered statistically significant. Results showed that increasing the cutting interval (i.e. advancing age of maturity) increased dry matter and crude fibre significantly. However, in terms of nutrient content, crude protein and metabolised energy percentage was markedly decreased as cutting interval increased. From the results presented, it is clear that cutting a stand of the Napier grass at 35 days will achieve greater yield and nutrient content.