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Abstract
The presently existing dominant perennial forages like Rhodes grass, alfalfa and their mixtures were investigated from January 1998 to August 1999 for their productivity as a part of ICARDA’s Arabian Peninsula Research Program (APRP) at Rumais in the Batinah Coast of the Sultanate of Oman. The results indicated that the Rhodes grass varieties produced significantly (P< 0.01) higher green (230.50 - 306.10 t/ha-1) and dry matter yields (52.39 - 67.48 t/ha-1) during the period. followed by the mixture treatments (green matter: 223.51 - 241.76 tfha" and dry matter: 49.02 - 53.11 t/ha-1) and alfalfa cultivars (green matter: 182.05 - 184.04 t/ha-1 and dry matter: 40.83-44.67 t/ha-1). Among the Rhodes grass varieties, Callide had a very high significant yield potential (P<0.05) in terms of both green and dry matter yields followed by Katambora and Topcut, a newly introduced variety. In alfalfa, both cultivars produced similar (P> 0.05) green matter (182.05 - 184.04 film") and dry matter (40.83 44.67 t/ha-1) yields. Among the mixtures, both green and dry matter yields of l: 2 mixture of Alfalfa and Rhodes grass were significantly higher than the other two mixture proportions i.e. 1:1 and 2:1 (P<0.05).