Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T21:33:44.686Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The production and management of Stylosanthes gracilis at Shika, Nigeria:II. In savanna grassland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

R. J. Haggar ,
P. N. De Leeuw  and
E. Agishi
R. J. Haggar
Affiliation:
Ahmadu Bello University, Shika Agricultural Research Station, P.O. Box 116, Zaria, Nigeria
P. N. De Leeuw
Affiliation:
Ahmadu Bello University, Shika Agricultural Research Station, P.O. Box 116, Zaria, Nigeria
E. Agishi
Affiliation:
Ahmadu Bello University, Shika Agricultural Research Station, P.O. Box 116, Zaria, Nigeria
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In an 80 acres (32·4 ha) grazing trial carried out over a 2-year period significant increases in cattle live-weight gains were achieved following the oversowing of savanna grassland by 4 lb/acre (1·8 kg/ha) of Stylosanthes gracilis (stylo) seed. The beneficial effects of the stylo was particularly apparent during the early part of the dry season. The early growth and subsequent survival of the stylo was not outstanding.

Better results were achieved in a second experiment where stylo was grown as a pure crop and ration-grazed in the dry season in association with unimproved savanna. The live-weight gain of cattle grazing the stylo only during the 12 h night period was the same as cattle receiving 1·8 lb (0·82 kg) whole cotton seed per day. In general, cattle live-weight gains were directly proportional to the time spent on the stylo.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , December 1971 , pp. 437 - 444
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Adegbola, A. A. (1965). Stylosanthes gracilis, a tropical forage legume for Nigerian agriculture. Proc. Agric. Soc. Niger. 4, 57–61.Google Scholar
Foster, W. H. (1961). Note on the establishment of a legume in rangeland in northern Nigeria. Exp. Agric. 29, 319–22.Google Scholar
Graham, T. G. (1968). Strip planting Townsville lucerne in spear grass. Qld agric. J. 94, 544–50.Google Scholar
Haggar, R. J. (1969). Improved pastures in the northern states of Nigeria. Proc. 1969 Livestock Conf., Zaria, pp. 86–92.Google Scholar
Hagger, R. J. (1971). The production of Stylosanthes gracilis. I. In sown pastures. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 77, 427–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horrell, C. R. & Court, M. N. (1965). Effect of the legume Stylosanthes gracilis on pasture yields at Serere, Uganda. J. Br. Grassld Soc. 20, 72–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norman, M. J. T. (1968). The performance of beef cattle on different sequences of Townsville lucerne and native pasture at Katherine, N.T. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 8, 21–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rains, A. B. (1963). Grassland research in northern Nigeria, 1952–62. Samaru Misc. Pap., no. 1, 69 pp.Google Scholar
Smith, C. A. (1962). Tropical grass/legume pastures in northern Rhodesia. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 59, 111–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C. A. (1963). Oversowing pasture legumes into the Hyparrhenia grassland of northern Rhodesia. Nature, 200, 811–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuley, P. (1968). Stylosanthes gracilis. Herb. Abstr. 39, 87–94.Google Scholar
Zemmelink, G. & Haggar, R. J. (1971). Feed intake and liveweight performance of cattle fed Andropogon gayanus hay, supplemented with cotton seed. J. anim. prod. (In the Press.)Google Scholar