Yield, agronomic parameters and nutritional quality of Tithonia diversifolia in response to different fertilization levels

Abstract

Tithonia diversifolia is a bushy forage plant with high biomass production, rapid post-harvest recovery, and good feed composition values (especially protein levels). It is a promising alternative raw material for incrementing protein content in livestock feeds, but its response to different fertilization regimes has received limited attention. An evaluation was done of this species’ yield, composition and nutritional quality values at six different fertilization levels. Experimental design was a completely random block design with six treatments to measure nutrient extraction and its relationship to plant agronomic parameters (biomass production, leaf:stem ratio, plant height at cut, stem count per plant), nutritional value and in vitro digestibility. Fertilization produced an overall improvement in T. diversifolia agronomic and composition values: compared to the control, biomass increased five-fold in response to fertilization, protein production four-fold and energy production was significantly higher. The best overall response was observed with fertilization using 28.1 g urea, 15.8 g DAP and 10.1 g KCl after each harvest cut.