Do silicon fertilizers improve the fodder value of tropical grass species?

摘要

Silicon has been reported as beneficial element for promoting growth and yield of plants.A wide range of species was found among tropical grasses:species with much higher concentration I.e.Pennisetum unisetum ( ＞ 13.5 % in blades),Panicum maximum Jacq ( ＞ 7.5 % ), and species having contents between 2.2% and 6.9% (Kindomihou 2005).An important preoccupation is how to reduce silica concentration in their leaves to improve their palatability,digestibility and nutrient value for animal high productivity.We examine the effect of silicon supply on Silica accumulation and other structural and functional traits of some tropical fodder grass species.