Influence of seedbed type and cattle manure level on herbage characteristics and forage nutritive value of Cenchrus ciliaris in a semi-arid area

Cenchrus ciliaris (African foxtail grass) is one of the perennial grass species with high drought and grazing tolerance, biomass yields and nutritional values. These factors emphasize its potential to improve livestock production in drylands. The study was conducted to investigate effects of seedbed types and manure levels on C. ciliaris herbage characteristics and nutritional values in a semi-arid area of eastern Tanzania. C. ciliaris was cultivated for 12 weeks on three seedbed types, namely not tilled (NT), tilled flat (TF) and sunken (SN), with cattle manure applied at 0, 5, 10 and 15 t/ha rates. Forages were evaluated for biomass yield, grass cover, seed production potential, and nutritional values. Forage biomass yield and grass cover were affected by seedbed type and manure level. The combination of TF seedbed and 10 or 15 t/ha cattle manure had the highest forage biomass yields of 12.4 and 12.6 t/ha, respectively. Similarly, TF seedbed with manure 10 and 15 t/ha had highest vegetative covers of 76.0% and 78.2%, respectively. Inflorescence density did not vary among seedbeds and manure levels. Forage energy and protein contents were not affected by seedbed. Energy intake was affected by manure level whereby it was higher in manure 10 and 15 t/ha for all seedbeds. It was concluded that TF and 10 t/ha are the best seedbed and manure level to establish C. ciliaris for sustainable livestock feeding in semi-arid areas of eastern Tanzania and similar environment.