Abstract

                                Studies on grasses were begun as early as 1929 and since then surveys of grass flora of different districts and trials of many exotic and indigenous grasses formed an important item of work in the Botany Section of the Agri- cultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore. A number of new fodder crops and grasses have been introdu- ced by the Botany Section under the Fodder Research Scheme and the nutri- tive value of these grasses are not avai- lable. The present study aims at the investigation of comparative values of the newly introduced fodder grasses. The following twelve grasses viz., Panicum purpureum, Pennisetum orien- tale, P. polystachyan, Gloris gayana, Setaria pallidifusca, S. holstii, S. woodii, Apluda varia, Eragrostis superba,

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