<![CDATA[The aim of this research was to determine the nutritive value and in vitro digestibility forage (Napier grass and legumes) under different harvest periods and cropping patterns. A factorial randomized block design (FRBD) with two factors was used: harvest period (H: two periods) and cropping pattern (C: eight treatments), with four replications (Blocks). The variables in this experiment were nutritive value (dry matter/DM, ash, organic matter/OM, crude protein/CP, crude fibre/CF, extracted ether/EE, and nitrogen-free extract/NFE) and in vitro digestibility (DM and OM). Analysis of variance revealed that the harvest period, cropping pattern, and their interaction had highly significant effects (P<0.01) on the nutritive value of the forage (ash, OM, and NFE). During the harvest period, the cropping pattern strongly influenced (P<0.01) the DM and CP of the forage, and only the harvest period highly significantly affected (P<0.01) the EE. Neither the cropping pattern nor the interaction significantly affected the in vitro digestibility of the forage (P>0.05). The harvest period had a highly significant effect (P<0.01) on in vitro digestibility. The dry matter digestibility (59.32%) and organic matter digestibility (65.44%) were greater in the second forage harvested (H2) than in the first harvest period (52.73% and 62.29%, respectively). Overall, the quality of forage is influenced by the harvest period, cropping pattern and their combination. Compared with monocropping napier grass (C1 and C2), intercropping napier grass with legumes can increase the protein content and digestibility of forage.]]>
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