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Abstract

A study was conducted to measure beef production on four tropical grasses: Pangola (Digitaria decumbens, Stent), Hemarthria (Hemarthria altissima, Stapf et C.E. Hubb), African Stargrass (Cynodon nlemfuensis, Vanderyst) and Tanner (Brachiaria spp). A uniform basal P-K fertilization was used (100 kg of K₂O and 100 kg P₂O₅/ha/year). Three levels of N were used (150, 300 and 450 kg/ha/year). Zebu steers were used in an alternate grazing system with a 42 days cycle with variable stocking rates. There were highly significant differences in beef production (P<.01) between species, years and periods within years. Hermathria grass reached the highest production but it was not different (P>.05) from those of African stargrass and Pangola Grass. Tanner grass showed the lowest production. It was concluded that 600-1,000 kg of beef/ha/year could be produced on any of these four grasses under intensive management without energy or protein supplementation.