INVESTIGADORES
ACUÑA Carlos Alberto
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Nutritional characteristics and cattle preference in Paspalum atratum and P. lenticulare.
Autor/es:
FLORENCIA MARCÓN; MARIO H. URBANI; CAMILO L. QUARIN; CARLOS A. ACUÑA
Lugar:
Buenos Aires
Reunión:
Simposio; 5th International Symposium of Forage Breeding; 2015
Institución organizadora:
Universidad de Buenos Aires
Resumen:
The search for warm-season grasses with good forage quality and cattle preference will contribute positively to increase the cattle production in the tropics and subtropics. Paspalum atratum Swallen and P. lenticulare H.B.K. are fast-growing perennial grasses native from South America. Although these species are polyploid and reproduce by apomixis, they have a high intra-specific diversity. The objectives of this study were to assess the nutritive value and cattle preference of P. atratum and P. lenticulare. Seed of these accessions was conserved into the germplasm bank of the ?Instituto de Botánica del Nordeste?, located in Corrientes - Argentina, since 1998. Clipping plots with five accessions of P. atratum and six of P. lenticulare were established near the city of Corrientes in November 2011, following a completely randomized design with 3 replications. Plots were seasonally clipped during three growing seasons. Forage samples were taken in January 2014, and analyzed for In vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and Crude Protein (CP). Plots were grazed by beef cattle during one hour in September 2013 and February 2015, and preference was visually estimated. Differences were declared significant whenever p≤ 0.05. No significant differences were observed between the 11 accessions for IVDMD (mean= 520 g kg-1 DM) and CP (mean= 90 g kg-1 DM). However, the cattle grazed preferentially one accession of P. atratum in both years. The correlations between IVDMD or CP and cattle preference were not significant. No associations were found among preference and, IVDMD and PB. Differences in cattle preference among accessions could have been related with leaf texture since the more palatable line had softer leaves. Further evaluations are needed to determine if the observed cattle preference are related to forage intake.