Agronomic and economic factors influence the productive performance of Cenchrus ciliaris under different types of organic fertilizers
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Abstract. Lugundi HS, Maleko DD, Kizima JB, Nziku ZC, French P, Lugeye S, Selemani IS. 2025. Agronomic and economic factors influence the productive performance of Cenchrus ciliaris under different types of organic fertilizers. Intl J Trop Drylands 9: 111-119. Cenchrus ciliaris L. (buffel grass) is among the essential tropical forage grasses, characterized by its high forage yield, nutritive value, grazing, drought, and fire resistance. However, nutrient deficiency in tropical sand soils is known to limit forage and seed yield, as well as the quality of C. ciliaris. A study was conducted to evaluate the agronomic and economic factors affecting C. ciliaris, focusing on seed yield and quality, forage hay yield, and its composition under different types of organic fertilizers during the rainy season. The results revealed that all fertilizer types significantly influenced seed yield, seed quality, hay biomass, and chemical composition over unfertilized plots; in comparison with other types of fertilizer, green fertilizer was found to increase crude protein content from 6.99 to 7.96% and decrease crude fiber and acid detergent fiber in harvested hay, respectively, from 32.98 to 31.7% and from 40.76 to 38.35%. On the other hand, the composted cow manure yielded the highest seed yield of 70 kg ha?¹ and had the highest germination percentage (29%). The application of compost cow manure also increased economic return by 0.7 times. Therefore, the application of composted cow manure on C. ciliaris under sandy soil in a tropical sub-humid climate is the best management practice for enhancing the performance of grass pasture seeds.
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