Keywords: defoliation, re-growth, fertilizer, tiller

Use of indigenous forage species, such as Eleusine indica could be one of the alternatives to solve the problem of scarcity of feeding materials in Nepal. Re-growth potentials of Eleusine indica was studied in dry season at Rampur, Chitwan during December 2002 to May 2003. Split plot design was used for the field trial. Different rates of nitrogen fertilizer (0 kg ha^-1, 50 kg ha^-1, and 100 kg ha^-1) were the main plot treatments, while the sub plots were different defoliation regimes (2, 4, and 6 cm cutting height above the ground). Re-growth estimation of fresh biomass was carried out. Similarly, chemical constituents of the Eleusine indica were also analyzed. The study revealed that nitrogen fertilizer application (100 kg ha^-1) resulted in increased re-growth yield of Eleusine indica. The cumulative re-growth of four harvests during January 2002 to May 2003 was 10.9 mt fresh biomass ha^-1 with the use of 100 kg N ha^-1 fertilizer and harvested at 2 cm defoliation height. However, defoliation height had no significant effect on plant re-growth (P>0.05). This indicated that Eleusine indica could be defoliated / grazed as low as up to 2 cm height from the ground without hampering its persistency. On the other hand, the CP content of E. indica was 12.37 % during winter. CP content was comparatively higher with the increased in nitrogen fertilizer application (P<0.05). The findings revealed that there is very good potentiality of E. indica as a native forage species, particularly during dry season, to fulfill the dry matter shortage.