Forage evaluation in acidic soil and dry areas of Rwanda

A study aimed at characterising nutritive value of introduced Brachiaria grasses in Rwanda was conducted. Four Brachiaria grasses including, Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk, Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG4, Brachiaria brizantha cv. Piatã and Brachiaria cv. Cayman with Panicum coloratum as control were planted in two contrasting areas (low rainfall-Kirehe district and acidic soils - Nyamagabe district) and harvested after 60 days and 90 days. The experiment was set in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The data collected were dry matter (DM), crude proteins (CP) and  In vitro gas production was used to estimate metabolisable energy (ME). Also, soill composition, especially carbon and Nitrogen were recorded. The data, further contains yield for ME and DM.