Three cultivars of Panicum maximum Jacq. under rotational grazing were evaluated for one year, before and after grazing, when measurements were made of the availability of total dry matter, height, residual dry matter, forage density, leaf dry matter, participation of leaves, stems and dead material, and ratios of leaf:stem and leaf:dead plant material. The treatments were 1) v. Tanzania + 50 kg N/ha, 2) v. Tanzania + 100 kg N/ha, 3) v. Mombaça + 50 kg N/ha, and 4) v. Massai + 50 kg N/ha. The Mombaça cultivar presented the poorest results, lowest production of leaves and the highest proportion of stems. However, the cv. Massai deservers attention for characteristics such as higher density of DM and higher leaf lamina:stem ratio; however, it presented a lower ratio of leaves:dead material. There were no significant differences in percentage of leaves among the cultivars. In the cv. Tanzania, nitrogen fertilization at the end of the rainy period had beneficial effects only in March when there was an increase in the leaf:stem and leaf:dead plant material ratios. The residual dry matter correlated positively with the height of the forage. The animals grazed 41% of the height of the pasture in the dry period, and 47% in the rainy period.
leaf; leaves available; pasture rotation; quantitative characteristics
