Development of a Bahiagrass \u3cem\u3ePaspalum Notatum\u3c/em\u3e Flugge With Increased Short-Day Biomass

Low herbage productivity of subtropical grasses during the short-day winter months of October through to March can place a severe burden on livestock producers in Southeastern U.S. Researchers at the University of Florida (Sinclair et al., 2001) hypothesised that the decrease in forage production might result from physiological dormancy induced by short day length. A study using artificial lights to extend the day length demonstrated that maintaining the day length at 15 hr during the short-day length period increased \u27Pensacola\u27 bahiagrass P. notatum Flugge saure Parodi forage yield 122% when compared with normal photoperiod (Mislevy et al., 2001). A Pensacola-derived bahiagrass population was selected for increased vegetative growth under short-day length using restricted recurrent phenotypic selection for three cycles (UF Cycle 3) to increase forage yield. Plants that comprise this population were less sensitive to short photoperiod and produced increased forage mass during the short days. The objective of this clipping study was to evaluate forage production and forage nutritive value of UF Cycle 3 compared with selected standard entries during short and long day length periods