Effect of intercropping with herbaceous legumes on the yield and quality of Napier grass in the central highlands of Kenya

cg.coverage.countryKenyaen_US
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2KEen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionEastern Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierKen E Giller: 0000-0002-5998-4652en_US
cg.isbn0 906562 24 4en_US
cg.number21en_US
cg.subject.ilriFARMING SYSTEMSen_US
cg.subject.ilriLEGUMESen_US
dc.contributor.authorMwangi, David Mianoen_US
dc.contributor.authorGiller, Kenneth E.en_US
dc.contributor.authorThorpe, W.R.en_US
dc.contributor.authorThomas, D.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-31T06:09:13Zen_US
dc.date.available2014-10-31T06:09:13Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/50441en_US
dc.titleEffect of intercropping with herbaceous legumes on the yield and quality of Napier grass in the central highlands of Kenyaen_US
dcterms.abstractDairy production in an important enterprise for many smallholders in the East African highlands, where population pressure is high and inheritance traditionally leads to the subdivision of land holdings. As a result, farm sizes are decreasing such that in Kiambu District, central Kenya, they average only 0.8 ha (Staal et al., 1997). Dairy is based mainly on the cut-and-carry (zero-grazing) system in which Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is the dominant fodder, complemented by crop residues (principally from maize) and roadside grasses. Generally farmers preferentially fertilise cash and food crops, not Napier grass, the yields of which are therefore low. The limited supply of fodder, when combined with the same quantities of purchased concentrates, results in average daily milk yields of 6-8 litres from high grade dairy cows (Omore et al., 1996; Staal et al., 1997). As a step towards developing higher yielding forage systems to support increased milk production, Napier grass was intercropped with three herbaceous legumes and harvested at different heights and frequencies to study the effects on forage yield and quality.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsLimited Accessen_US
dcterms.isPartOfBSAS Occasional Publicationen_US
dcterms.issued1998en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.publisherBritish Society of Animal Scienceen_US
dcterms.subjecthighlandsen_US
dcterms.subjectintercroppingen_US
dcterms.subjectpennisetum purpureumen_US
dcterms.subjectyieldsen_US
dcterms.subjectqualityen_US
dcterms.subjectfeed legumesen_US
dcterms.typeConference Paperen_US

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