Effect of Grass-legume Intercropping on Dry Matter Yield and Nutritive Value of Pastures in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Abstract

The Eastern Cape Province, South Africa is faced with inadequate quantity of livestock feed especially during the drier (winter) seasons. Forage legumes were over sown into natural grasses to determine their potential to improve feed quality and quantity. Four forage legumes namely: Trifolium vesiculosum (Arrowleaf clover), Lespedeza cuneata (sericea lespedeza) , Trifolium repens (white clover) and Lotus corniculatus (birdsfoot trefoil) were intercropped with native grasses in the old arable land located in Lushington communal area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The treatments consisted of natural grasses growing in pure stands and native grasses intercropped with forage legumes grown under rain-fed conditions. Grasses and legumes were harvested for dry matter yield (DMY) once in spring 2013 (September-November), summer 2014 (December-February), autumn 2014 (March-May) and winter 2014 (June-August). Amongst the legumes, L. cuneata was more (P<0.05) productive than rest of the legumes. However, T. vesiculosum was the least (P<0.05) productive legume during the four seasons. Total dry matter (TDM) yield was higher (P<0.05) during summer and lower during winter seasons, respectively. Grasses harvested in autumn had the highest (P<0.05) 12% crude protein (CP) than those harvested in winter which, had the lowest 4.6% CP content. Similarly, all legume pastures harvested in spring had superior (p<0.05) 10.8% CP, while those harvested in winter had the least 3.5% CP. Likewise, forages harvested during the wet seasons (i.e. autumn and or summer) had improved (P<0.05) herbage micro nutrient content than those harvested in the drier (winter) season. Results of the study indicated that overall total dry matter yield of grass-legume mixtures was higher than that of sole natural grasses, with grasses constituting the major component of the herbage yield. Results from this study also indicated that forages produced in wetter seasons had superior biomass yield and nutritive value, respectively.

Growth Performance and Plasma Metabolites of Grazing Beef Cattle Backgrounded on Buffel or Buffel-Desmanthus Mixed Pastures

“…Although Desmanthus contributed a small proportion of initial pasture biomass (11.5%) in the study, pasture DM yield was 443 kg/ha higher in the Desmanthus paddock compared to the buffel-grass-only paddock. This finding agrees with other studies that reported an increase in pasture yield when legumes were oversown with grass pastures compared to grass-only pastures in the tropics [ 62 , 63 ]. The presence of 11–33% legumes in temperate pastures was found to increase DM yield, but with a reduced yield benefit as the legume proportion increased to 67% or more [ 64 ].…”

Intercropping—A Low Input Agricultural Strategy for Food and Environmental Security

“…Sometimes it is also referred to as mixed cropping [41]. In pasture-based cropping system, grass-legume intercropping is an ideal example of mixed intercropping [42]. The mixed intercropping is commonly observed to fulfil the requirement of food and forage where the land resource is a limiting factor [43].…”

Benefits of grass-legume inter-cropping in livestock systems

“…Sturludottir et al (2013) reported more DM production of 9, 15 and 7% in mixture plots than the most productive monoculture in the first, second and third year respectively in a study they conducted. Gulwa et al (2017) also reported higher total dry matter production in grass-legume mixture plots in comparison to grass only plots in a study that was conducted in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The difference in growth patterns of legumes is reported to have a potential of leading to efficient use of resources such as light when grown in a mixture than when grown separately.…”