The effect of cutting interval on foliage yield and chemical composition of Tropical Kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides) cultivated as cover-crop in rubber plantation

Abstract

An experiment was carried out with Tropical Kudzu, which was cover crop for rubber at second year, to evaluate effect of cutting interval on yield and chemical composition of foliage. Four cutting intervals of Kudzu foliage: 40, 50, 60 and 70 days were arranged in a randomized completely block design (RCBD) with 4 replicates in 12 m2 of one experimental plot. The present study showed decreasing leaf proportion, CP content and increasing DM and ADF content with increasing length of cutting interval. The leaf proportion and CP content ranged from 58.63 to 48.97% and 22.11 to 19.65%, respectively. The DM and ADF content ascended from 21.8 to 26.17% and from 38.01 to 39.94%, respectively. The DM and OM yield of Kudzu foliage were highest at 60-day cutting interval with 5.81 and 5.46 tonnes/ha/6months, respectively. The DM and OM yield at 40-day cutting interval were significantly lower than that at 60-day cutting interval. The fresh and CP yield of Kudzu were 21.75 - 23.13 tonnes/ha/6months and 1.08 - 1.14 tonnes/ha/6months, respectively. There were no significant differences of fresh forage and CP yield among the cutting intervals. To provide a balance between quality and yield of Kudzu foliage, the optimum cutting interval was 60 days.