Napier grass strips and livestock: a bioeconomic analysis

Napier grass strips are gaining some acceptance in Southeast Asia as a vegetative means of soil erosion control, due to the relative ease of establishment and management. In addition, the napier grass strips aid productivity of agroforestry systems by providing mulch or by being fed to livestock. In this paper, a bioeconomic comparison of different ways of utilising the napier grass cuttings is undertaken. The three uses examined for the cuttings were: as mulch in the alley areas, sold as fodder, and fed to animals with manure applied back to the system. The analysis linked the soils-oriented SCUAF model with economic and animal component models. SCUAF was parameterized using field data based on farmer interviews and field visits. Farmer interviews and field visits were conducted at Claveria, Misamis Oriental to gather additional data regarding costs and returns associated with animal production, and also to obtain the farm gate price of napier. Predicted biophysical results produced by the SCUAF model showed that application of napier grass cuttings, back into the system, directly as mulch or indirectly as animal manure resulted in higher maize and napier yields, lower soil erosion rates, and less of a reduction in soil mineral nitrogen and soil labile carbon levels. The comparison was made with the case where napier was sold off-farm as fodder. Cost-benefit analysis showed that higher economic returns were gained when napier grass cuttings were fed to animals, rather than applied directly as mulch. This economic benefit was attributed to the draught and transport services rendered by the animal and to a change in the value of the animals. This analysis highlights the value of utilizing animals within a napier grass strip system for control of erosion.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

栽种对象草生产性能的作用

对象草 Pennisetum purpureum 采用扦插、平埋2种植入方式和40、80、120 cm 3个行距水平进行组合栽种试验,结果表明,扦插和平埋的繁殖成活率分别为90%和87%,两者间的差异不显著(P<0.05).方差分析显示,行距水平间的草产量存在显著差异(F>F0.01),植入方式、植入方式与行距互作效应均不显著(F0.05).5次刈割的年合计产量表明,平埋 80 cm行距、平埋 40 cm行距的产量显著高于平埋 120 cm行距、扦插 120 cm行距的产量(P<0.05);平埋 80 cm行距与扦插 120 cm行距间的产量差异达到极显著水平(P<0.01).     

杂交狼尾草饲养肉兔试验

以象草为对照，测定杂交狼尾草饲养肉兔的肥育效果，结果表明，试验组平均日增重肉料比，采食量均比对照组优越，相差分别为＋２３．３％，－１３．０２％和＋１３．８１％。     

Short-term measurements of uptake of nitrogen fixed in the rhizospheres of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and millet (Pennisetum americanum)

Summary In a series of short-term experiments root systems of young sorghum and millet plants inoculated with N₂-fixing bacteria were exposed to ¹⁵N₂-enriched atmospheres for 72 h. The plants were grown in a normal atmosphere for up to 22 days after the end of the exposure to allow them to take up the fixed N₂. Environmental conditions and genotypes of sorghum and millet were selected to maximise N₂-fixation in the rhizosphere. Detectable amounts of fixed N (> 16 g/plant) were rapidly incorporated into sorghum plants grown in a sand/farmyard manure medium, but measurable fixation was found on only one occasion in plants grown in soil. N₂ fixation was detectable in some experiments with soil-grown millet plants but the amounts were small (2–4 g/plant) and represented less than 1 % of plant N accumulated over the same period. In many cases there was no detectable ¹⁵N₂ incorporation despite measurable increases in ethylene concentration found during an acetylene reduction assay.Published as ICRISAT Journal Article No. JA 740     

Inheritance of threshing percentage in pearl millet

Summary The threshing percentage (TH%) has been suggested as a selection criterion to identify the pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.) lines with improved ability to fill and set grains under water limiting conditions. In this study, eight genetically diverse pearl millet inbreds and their 28 crosses produced by half diallel crossing design were used to examine range in TH%, to evaluate general combining ability (GCA) of parents and specific combining ability (SCA) effects of crosses. The results showed significant variation among parental lines for TH%. The inbreds differed for their GCA effects and crosses for their SCA effects. Parents with high TH% and positive GCA effects were identified. The results of the study revealed that both additive and dominance components, with the preponderance of later, were important in the inheritance of TH%. Heritability in narrow sense was moderate (55%) indicating that selection for high TH% might be effective.     

Commercial viability of alternative cytoplasmic-nuclear male-sterility systems in pearl millet

Commercial viability of three cytoplasmic-nuclear male sterility (CMS) systems (A₄, A₅ and A_v) as potential alternatives to the most widely used A₁ system in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R.Br.) was evaluated in terms of stability of complete male sterility of four isonuclear A-lines (81A₁, 81A₄, 81A₅ and 81A_v) and the level and stability of male fertility restoration of their 44 single-cross hybrids. Lines 81A₄ and 81A₅ had no pollen shedders (PS), and there were very low frequency of non-PS plants of these A-lines that had a maximum of 1–5% selfed seedset (SSS). In 81A₁ and 81A_v,there were, albeit low frequency (<1%) of PS plants, and relatively higher frequency of the non-PS plants in these two lines, the more so in 81A_v,had 1–5% and even greater SSS. Some hybrids made on each of the three A-lines (81A₁, 81A₄ and 81A_v) had high and stable male fertility, while others made on the same three A-lines displayed large variation in SSS across the environments, the more so in case of hybrids made on 81A_v. These results indicate that the A₄ CMS system provides a better alternative to the A₁ CMS system, while the A_v system does not. On the basis of highly stable male sterility and the highest frequency of pollinators behaving as maintainers, the A₅ CMS system appeared to be the best for A-line breeding. The commercial viability of this CMS system in breeding R-lines of grain hybrids, however, still remains to be ascertained as no hybrid on it was fully male fertile in any environment. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Recurrent Selection in Pearl Millet for Improving Stand Establishment at High Temperature

Inadequate stand establishment can be a major constraint to high grain and fodder yields of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) in the semi-arid tropics. In this study, two laboratory screening procedures designed to improve components of stand establishment were evaluated. In the first procedure the ability of seedlings to emerge from the soil at 45 °C was tested and in the second procedure the ability of seeds to germinate at 45°C was measured. Two cycles of recurrent selection were conducted with each procedure in the Higrop and Senpop pearl millet gene pools. The resultant populations were evaluated to measure the efficacy of the screening procedures. Selection for increased emergence was effective in the Cc of Higrop. When emergence percentage was averaged across Higrop and Senpop, recurrent selection increased emergence percentage by 7.4 % per cycle. In future, the size of the emergence screening units and number of seeds screened per progeny tested should be increased. The germination selection procedure was ineffective.     

Trait Associations in Introgressed Populations of Pearl Millet

Principal component analysis has been used in this study to describe the associations among 17 traits measured on progenies developed from matings of two adapted pearl millet inbreds with three exotic pearl millets. The exotic parents were a primitive I and race, a weedy relative, and a wild relative. The first three components were calculated for these matings and the associations defined. Correlations between these components and grain yield and growth rate were also determined. The first principal component described a hybrid index in five of the six matings, and a number of other complexes of traits were determined by this component or the other two. Some were common to several matings. The first three components accounted for only 50–60% of the total variability; thus no strong association of trans was found that would hinder recombination of parental types to select agronomically desirable segregates with high grain yield or growth rate.