Large reported differences across growth, foliage capacity, dry matter, leaves, and forage composition.

Guinea grass recorded a 73% net gain in plant height, 124% in green foliage capacity, 187% in dry matter capacity, and 157% in penultimate leaf length. Tithonia diversifolia recorded a 205% net gain in green foliage capacity and 230% in dry matter capacity, along with gains across several additional plant and forage composition measurements.

The supplied study reports results as net gain over control rather than providing the underlying raw treated and control measurements. The percentages therefore cannot be independently recalculated from the supplied source. “Dry Matter Capacity” and “Dry Matter” are listed as separate parameters in the source and are preserved separately here. The source describes the Number of Dry Leaves results as “7% improvement” and “31% improvement” without defining the direction of that improvement, so no further interpretation is added. For Tithonia Ash, the source provides “+9.2” without a unit or percent sign; for Guinea Grass Crude Fiber, it provides “+11” without a unit or percent sign. Those values are reproduced exactly rather than assigning unsupported units. The supplied source also includes an asterisk after “Penultimate Leaf,” but no corresponding footnote was provided.

Why this matters for forage producers: This University of Santander study provides a broad comparison across two forage species and five treated versus five control plots. The largest source-reported differences were seen in foliage and dry matter capacity, including +187% and +230% dry matter capacity and +124% and +205% green foliage capacity for Guinea grass and Tithonia diversifolia respectively. Additional differences were documented across plant structure, leaf development, and several forage composition parameters.