INITIAL EVALUATION OF NINE ECOTYPES OF Setaria machrostachya GRASS AT A COMMON SITE

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.22533/at.ed.973562507019

• Palavras-chave: 'Native grass, genetic diversity, spikes.

• Keywords: 'Native grass, genetic diversity, spikes.

• Abstract:

  Overgrazing caused by extensive livestock farming on pastureland has led to a 58% loss in forage species diversity. Revegetation with native species has therefore been proposed to increase forage availability. However, the first step is to identify the ideal genotypes for this purpose. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate, under the same conditions, the expression of various ecotypes of Setaria machrostachya grass in the early stages of establishment in terms of plant height and number of spikes. A completely randomized block design with three replicates was used, and the treatment means were compared using Tukey's test (α ≤ 0.05). Three outstanding ecotypes were found in terms of plant height, averaging up to 19 cm, which allows us to distinguish the genetic diversity of Setaria machrostachya ecotypes. No difference was found in the number of spikes per plant (P≥0.05), with the highest average being up to 3.3 spikes per plant. However, it is recommended that this variable in grasses continue to be measured until the second and third years of establishment.