Evaluation of the vegetative development of maralfalfa (Pennisetum sp.) under the application of bovine biol in the Choquenaira Experimental Station

Sandra Condori Vargas; Paulino Ruiz Huanca; Olga Ticona Guanto; Gladys J. Chipana Mendoza

Abstract

The maralfalfa is a perennial grass with high productivity that has been introduced by producers in numerous countries in Latin America (Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela, among others) due to its potential as fodder for ruminants. The objective of the research is to evaluate the vegetative development of maralfalfa under the application of biol and irrigation sheets. The evaluation was in the hot bed, greenhouse, field and open field environments, with the application of 9 treatments consisting of the incorporation of bovine biol at 20, 40 and 60% and application of irrigation sheets at 25, 50 and 75%, the design was of random blocks with arrangement of divided plots, resulting in three blocks with three repetitions, the percentage of pruning, number of tillers, number of leaves, length of the leaf and width of the leaf and leaf area were evaluated. The effect of the application of the three irrigation sheets on the agronomic characteristics were significant; in relation to the plant height within the four environments the best result was obtained by applying a 75% irrigation sheet, with plant height in five cuts of 5.61 m in the warm bed and with 25% of irrigation sheet 34.22 cm in the open field. The effect of the application of the three levels of bovine biol in the agronomic characteristics was not significant, the effect of the interaction of three irrigation sheets with three levels of bovine biol in the agronomic characteristics determines that it only has significance for the number of leaves, resulting in 397 leaves per plant and in the open field only 37 leaves per plant were obtained.