EFFECT OF NITROGEN FERTILIZER APPLICATION RATE ON MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS, YIELD, AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SUDAN GRASS (SORGHUM × DRUMMONDII “ADEN-GODE”) GROWN UNDER IRRIGATION

Abstract

Sudan grass is annual forage grown with fine stems and it has been gaining increasing importance in animal feed due to its rapid establishment. To maximize the quality and quantity of Sudan grass grown with nitrogen fertilizer is recommended. Hence, nitrogen fertilizer on Sudan grass (Aden gode) with different rates may increase the nutritive values of the forage grown. Therefore, the purpose of this experiment was to assess the morphological parameters, DMY and nutritional content of Sudan grass (sorghum × drummondii“Aden-gode”) under four nitrogen fertilizer rates (control, 50,100 and 150 kg/ha) at Northwest Ethiopia. The treatments were arranged in RCBD with four replications. All recorded datasets were subjected to a GLM procedure of SAS (9.0). The findings demonstrated that the tallest plant and the highest DMY at 150kg/ha fertilizer. The maximum CP, ME, IVOMD % was also found from the application of 150kg/ha nitrogen fertilizer rate (T4). Moreover, the highest net profit was obtained from T4 (32,985birr), followed by T3 (30, 300birr) and T2 (27,705birr), while the lowest net benefit was recorded from unfertilized Sudan grass plots (25,245 birr). Therefore, in the research areas and similar agro-ecology, the nitrogen fertilizer levels of 150kg/ha (T4) would have a more advantageous production performance to meet forage quantity, economic feasibility and nutritional value demands.

Keywords: Chemical composition, Fertilizer application, Forage yield, Morphological characteristic, Sudan grass.