Screening of Elephant Grass Genotypes Following Some Agro-marphological Traits Related to Biomass Production in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the behavior per se of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Shum) hybrids for energy purposes by means of morpho-agronomic traits in four evaluation sections. An experiment in randomized block design with three replicates was applied to evaluate the hybrids. The plot consisted of a 15-m row with 1.50-m row spacing, and 1.50-m spacing between plants. The usable area was composed of the five central plants. It was evaluated Number of tillers per clump; Stem diameter; Plant height; Plant dry matter yield; and Percentage of dry matter. Computational resources from the GENES Program were used to analyze the results. In both cuts, the H7, H11, and H14 hybrids was superior to the others in the four evaluation cuts for all evaluated characteristics, proving to be a potential genotype to be used for energy biomass production.