The poor seed yield from some pasture grasses may result from a number of causes, such as the choice of site production, low soil fertility, inappropriate sowing rate, inadequate crop management practices particularly plant density, fertilizer input, poor seed recovery, etc. Compared with sowings of general plant use, seed crops warrant more care and expense during the establishment phase. Seedbeds should be prepared more thoroughly and the seed sown more precisely using adequate seeding rates. The effect of row spacing on the one hand and nitrogen level application on the other hand, have variable effect on grass seed production and there are a conflicting report in some cases depending on species, management practices and environmental conditions, and therefore a case-by-case study for each species and environment is important. In general, seed growers had better to sown seed in row than broadcasting and row spacing of 50-80 cm can be recommended for seed production depending on grass species or cultivars. The selection of optimal production areas depends on soil fertility, the photoperiod and temperature which can interact with rainfall and humidity of the site. The optimum sowing depths was 0-30 mm with some species and cultivars emerging from greater depths than others. With some exceptions, larger seeds were generally able to germinate successfully from greater depths. It was reported that seeds of Brachiaria brizantha and Panicum maximum established better when covered by 20-50 mm. Generally, applying fertilizer nitrogen to seed crops has implications for yield component dynamics such as tiller increasing, number of fertile tillers, floret per spikelet, and seed per head and ultimately increases seed yield and quality. Amounts of nitrogen fertilizer required will depend on species, soil type and rainfall. More often, 100-250 kg of nitrogen per ha and crop and rate more than 300 kg N/ha caused reduction in seed yield by severe plant lodging. For optimum time for nitrogen application, it can be recommended to growers to apply nitrogen in the period from vegetative to spikelet initiation.

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This paper reviews some characteristics of crop-livestock production systems in Benin with a special focus on the issues for enhance pasture production and nutritive value which in turn will increase animal productivity. Benin is located in the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa and covers 114,763 km 2. The population estimated in 2017 is 10,900,000 inhabitants with an annual population growth rate of 3.5%. The country is primarily an agro-based economy, characterized by subsistence agricultural production that employs more than 70%. The climate ranges from the bimodal rainfall equatorial type in the south to the tropical unimodal monsoon type in the north. The climatic limiting factor for plant growth is rainfall which is generally tending to diminish with increasing variation between years. There are two main soil types in Benin (ferruginous and ferralitic). Based on a national livestock survey in 2016 the national herd is estimated to be 2 339 000 cattle (Bos taurus or B. indicus), 915 000 sheep (Ovis aries), 1 836 000 goat (Capra hircus), 466 000 swine (Sus scrofa), 2 000 equines (Equus caballus), 800 donkeys (E. asinus), 20 camels (Camelus dromedarius) and 20 000 000 poultry (mainly Numida meleagris). The growth of the ruminant livestock improvement has been impeded by several constraints such as low feed supply in quantity and quality, low crop-livestock integration, low level of management practices, lack of improved breeding stock, disease, inadequate stock water, poor marketing and lack of capital. Zootechnical performances of animals are very low. In this context, the introduction of legume forage would be a sustainable way as it can enhance pasture production and nutritive value which in turn will increase animal productivity.

This study proposes to evaluate the influence of the spacing row and NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer and goat manure on Panicum maximum seed production and fodder nutritive value harvested in south Benin on ferralitic soil from 2015 to 2017. The experiment was a factorial design comprising all combinations of 4 row spacings (20, 40, 60 and 80 cm) and 6 fertilizers: six levels of fertilizer: (F0) No goat manure (Control) (F1), 100 kg NPK 15-15-15, (F2) 20 t/ha goat manure, (F3) 15 t/ha goat manure, (F4) 10t/ha goat manure + 33kg NPK 15-15-15 and (F5) 5 tons + 66 Kg NPK/ha. Four replications were used in the experiment. The results showed that wider row spacing (60 cm) enhanced seed production in this experiment. Number of total tillers/tussock, fertile tillers/tussocks and spike length were significantly greater under the widest rows spacing (60 cm and 80 cm). The best seed yield got with row spacing 60 cm (392.1 kg.ha-1) and 45.5% of caryopses germinate after six months of storage against 14.5% for spikelet. Seed yield and its attributes increased significantly with NPK combined to goat manures (F4).

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