Effect of cutting date and frequency on yield and quality of kudzu in the southern United States

Abstract

Kudzu [Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi.], a vigorous, perennial warm‐season legume, grows widely throughout the south‐eastern United States, predominantly as a volunteer species. It is tolerant of drought and acidic, infertile soils and may have potential as a low‐input forage for livestock. A field experiment was undertaken to determine the effects of cutting date and frequency on yield and nutritive value of kudzu (20‐year‐old stand with no fertilizer or lime inputs) in central Georgia. The cutting treatments included an uncut control, and plots cut once (September), twice (July and September), and three times (June, July, and September) during the 1994 growing season. Dry matter (DM) production and forage quality were determined for total herbage, leaf and stem tissues from quadrat samples taken on all plots in June, July, September, and November (after a killing frost) in 1994, and in June, 1995. Total herbage and leaf DM production was highest for the three‐harvest system and lowest in the no‐cut control plots in 1994, but these results were reversed in the harvest made in 1995. Total herbage production and crude protein concentrations were similar in kudzu cut in the initial summer harvest (either June, July, or September) during the first year. Whole plant and stem in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) in these samples declined throughout the growing season, while leaf IVDMD was unchanged until the first frost. Kudzu has the potential to be a low‐input forage for livestock, particularly as supplemental drought feed, or as a protein bank for summer or autumn grazing.

Nutritive value for ruminants of two herbaceous South American native legumes: Adesmia bicolor and Adesmia macrostachya

“…Minor variations in in vitro digestibility with phenological stage of legumes have been reported for other legumes (Marinas et al 1993;Terrill et al 2003), although this response is not consistent, and the opposite has also been observed in vitro and in situ with white clover (Ayres et al 1998) and alfalfa (Buxton 1996;Yu et al 2004). In this way, the extent and rate of gas production from in vitro fermentation of A. macrostachya were reduced as the plant matured and, except for its vegetative stage, the gas production was lower than that from alfalfa.…”

Tropical kudzu as a protein source in sheep diets

“…The advantages of including legumes in sheep nutrition related to animal production have been described in previous studies ( VAN HIEP et al, 2008;TERRILL et al, 2003;CORLEY et al, 1997). Such advantages include enhanced animal production as a result of the increased protein concentrations, digestibility and intake of available forage, improved distribution of pasture production throughout the year, improved available proteinenergy balance (SILVA et al, 2014), increased concentration of minerals (particularly calcium) and increased soil fertility upon nitrogen addition to the soil-plant-animal system (MIRANDA et al, 2003;ALMEIDA et al, 2015).…”

Plant Architecture and Growth Response of Kudzu (Fabales: Fabaceae) to Simulated Insect Herbivory

“…Above-ground biomass production has been estimated from 0.5-m 2 quadrats (Wechsler 1977, Abramovitz 1983) and from large 15.3-by 30.5-m plots within established kudzu patches (Terrill et al 2003). One study explicitly measured vine elongation rates (Wechsler 1977), but results were derived from only Þve consecutive days of data collection in a single kudzu patch.…”