Most pastures that support Brazilian beef herds consist of monocultures of C4 grass forages char- acterised by high levels of dry matter production (Da Silva and Nascimento Júnior 2007). How- ever, when producers base management actions on simplistic and empirical criteria and do not fertilise, pasture degradation occurs after a few years. In an endeavour to correct this situation and increase the efficiency of livestock produc- tion, new technologies, based on factors that reg- ulate the productivity of tropical forage plants, must be generated and diffused. Important issues to be considered include: regrowth following cut- ting or grazing; morphological characteristics; and the environmental conditions (Barbosa et al.
2002). In this context, significant improvements in the efficiency and productivity of pasture- animal production systems could be obtained by starting with simple actions, such as those related to grazing or defoliation management, that would result in highly efficient use of the forage pro- duced. Identification of cutting intervals and cutting heights that optimise the net forage accu- mulation and delay senescence and stem accumu- lation would favour the efficient accumulation of large quantities of highly nutritious forage (Pinto et al. 2001; Carnevalli et al. 2006; Barbosa et al.
2007; Difante et al. 2009; Da Silva et al. 2009).
This study assesses the responses of Mombaça guinea grass (Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça) to various cutting strategies in terms of regrowth and forage accumulation in order to generate data for planning efficient management practices for this forage plant.