Comparison of morphological and productive characteristics between MT1 elephant grass and Mott elephant grass

Mott elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Mott) is a kind of valuable forage in south China. In order to evaluate productivity of MT1 elephant grass (P. purpureum cv. MT1), bred from Mott population, comparative analysis between MT1 elephant grass and Mott elephant grass on morphological characters, modular and bunch biomass during vegetative and reproductive growth periods were conducted from 2007 to 2009. The results indicated that the plant height and clump diameter of MT1 were significantly higher than those of Mott (P＜0.01), and the tiller number of Mott was a little more than that of MT1. The leaf biomass (in vegetative period), dead leaf biomass, culm biomass, inflorescence biomass and ramet biomass of MT1 were significantly higher than those of Mott (P＜0.01). However, the leaf to culm ratio of Mott was significantly higher than that of MT1 (P＜0.01). The bunch biomass of MT1 in vegetative and reproductive growth periods, were 1.42-1.84 times and 1.07-1.87 times of Mott, respectively. The annual biomass of MT1 ranged from 31 246.50 to 48 838.60 kgha-1, while that of Mott just ranged from 18 201.70 to 36 306.60 kgha-1. In summary, the productivity of MT1 was better than that of Mott according to the outstanding biomass yield.