Use of Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin. for haymaking in the experimental station of Gampela, Burkina Faso

Abstract

In the Ouagadougou region, in Burkina Faso, the intensification of livestock production depends on forage culture and haymaking. The seeds of the varieties suggested for forage culture by the technical services are not easily available. A local variety, Pennisetum pedicellatum, a spontaneous annual grass, was therefore chosen for the following reasons: easy establishment, high productivity, high seed yield. P. pedicellatum sawn in the first half of July reaches its optimum stage for harvesting between August 25th and September10th. The very frequent rainfalls up to September 15th become less frequent thereafter. Thus, the forage can be only successfully dried after this data. The studies were performed with the aim of determining the best means for obtaining the largest amount of hay with plants harvested at the “late emergence” stage after September 15th: either by varying the date of first cutting (trial I) or by spacing and sowing from late June to early August (trial II). The goal was reached: in trial I, with a first cutting date on August 23th, 1 100 kg DM/ha were obtained (with the first regrowths); in trial II, with a sowing date on July 20th, the production was 1 840 kg DM/ha (first cutting and regrowths).