Management and cultivar effects on ruminant nutritional quality of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) stover. II. Effects of cultivar choice on stover quality and productivity

The paper investigates the variation in laboratory fodder quality traits in stover of 16 cultivars of pearl millet grown over 2 consecutive years and subjected to two different fertilizer regimes and planting densities. Stover quality traits were nitrogen and sugar content, in vitro digestibility and metabolizable energy content as well as yield of digestible and metabolizable stover. Significant (P 0.05) suggesting that high stover quality will not be achieved on the expense of grain yield. Heritabilities for stover quality traits were high (h2 > 0.73) except for stover nitrogen content (h2 > 0.56)