The Influence Of Desmodium And Manure On The Agronomic Performance Of Fodder Plantsin Lushoto District, Tanzania

ABSTRACT

Animal feed scarcity and mostly the availability of high quality forage, is one of the major limiting factors to dairy productivity improvement in Lushoto District. This is a result of soil fertility losses due to soil erosion, deforestation practices and to the decrease or the abandonment of mineral fertilizer use. Thepresent study was conducted in Ubiri Village, Lushoto Districtto assess the influence of desmodium and farmyard manure on the agronomic performance of fodder plants species. Two treatments used in this study were; fertility improvement options (with four levels) and fodder plant species (with three levels), which were established using RCBD with three replications. The forage agronomic data collected included counting the number of tillers per bunch, measuring the height of tillers (m), leaf area indices and biomass yield (tha-1 ) in each treatment in their respective replications. Weather data during crop development were also collected. The results during the third harvest (28 weeks)indicated that; desmodium significantly (P