Características morfológicas, agronômicas e de valor nutritivo no período de estabelecimento das gramíneas forrageiras marandu, setária e tanzânia

A field experiment was carried out at Instituto de Zootecnia, Nova Odessa,SP, Brazil, in a randomized complete-block design, with 12 replications, in order to evaluate in three tropical forage grasses: marandu (Brachiaria brizantha Stapf. cv. Marandu), setaria (Setaria sphacelata cv. Kazungula ) and tanzania (Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania-1 ), some establishment characteristics (number of plants.m-1 at 7, 14 and 21 days and number of tillers.m-1 at 21, 28 and 35 days after sowing), as well as dry matter yield, sward height and leaf blade percentage. Dry matter percentage, crude protein percentage, neutral detergent fibber (NDF) and “in vitro” dry matter digestibility, were also estimated, in samples picked up at 145 days after sowing. Setaria and tanzania presented the highest number of plants.m-1 up to 14 days and tanzania the highest number of tillers.m-1 after 21 days. Marandu and tanzania presented significantly higher yields, dry matter percentage and leaf blade percentages than setaria. Setaria, on the other hand, presented the highest crude protein value. Tanzania’s NDF was significantly higher than those of the two other grasses, but its IVDMD was similar to setaria’s and lower than marandu’s.