A field experiment was carried out at Capão do Leão, RS, to evaluate the effect of three deferment periods (January 22, February 25 and March 25) and four cutting ) periods (April 22, May 20, June 17 and July 15) on the production and quality of Elephant-grass cv. Vruckwona. A split plot design with four replications was used. Deferment periods were allocated in the main plots and cutting periods in the subplots. Dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) productions demonstrated significant differences according to the deferment and cutting periods. The deferment in January presented highest DM and CP production of 8434 and 318kg/ha, as the cutting periods average. The February and March deferment periods had similar DM and CP production, which values of 2112kg/ha and 147kg/ha respectively. The January deferment period was in average 3.8% and 44.1 % and for February was 6.3% and 46.7% for CP and in situ DDM digestibility. CP and DDM percentage values were higher in the first two cutting periods than in the later one, for February and March deferment penods. At the beginning of deferment periods, the DM and CP productions increased from the first to the last cutting period. The deferment period had a more remarkable influence on production and quality of the forage than the cutting period. The determent at the beginning of the Summer increases forage production, however, the quality is low. The deferment at the end of the Summer decreased forage production.
elephant-grass; deferment; cutting periods; dry matter; production and quality
