Abstract
Siratro was cultivated in mixture with Guinea grass (Gatton), pangola grass, or setaria grass (Kazungula) and cut every 3, 5, 7, and 9 weeks to 3cm above the ground for two years in Ishigaki Island, subtropical Japan. Dry matter and digestible dry matter yields and the legume percent (Siratro) were measured. Annual total dry matter and digestible dry matter yields of each Siratro/grass mixture tended to increase with longer cutting intervals ; the highest yield with 9 weeks for pangola grass or setaria grass and with 7 weeks for Guinea grass mixed with Siratro. The percent Siratro in the mixture markedly dectined with cutting interval of 3 weeks. Cutting intervals longer than 7 weeks were recommended for exploiting full potential of Siratro in the mixtures. Dry matter digestibilities of the grass species declined with higher temperature and with longer cutting intervals in the following order ; pangola grass<Guinea grass<setaria grass Those of Siratro were less affected by temperature and cutting intervals.
