Japanese millet: Effects of seeding rate and harvest stage on forage yields

Abstract

Japanese millet [Echinochloa esculenta (A. Braun) H. Scholz] is an annual warm season grass species that can be used as emergency forage source. An experiment was conducted for two years in southwestern Quebec to determine the effects of seeding rate and developmental stage at harvest on forage yields. Seeding rates (15 to 30 kg ha-1) had no effect on yields, in contrast, response to harvest stage differed depending on the year but yields were always maximized with one harvest at heading stage (6569 kg DM ha-1) and lowest with two harvests at a vegetative stage (3166 kg DM ha-1).