Efficiency of water use and nitrogen for goat milk production in irrigated pasture to different management

Abstract

The aim was to determine the efficiency of use of water and nitrogen for forage production and goat-milk production on an irrigated Tanzania Guineagrass (Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia) pasture subjected to different management practices. The management levels tested were combinations among nitrogen fertilization levels and post-grazing residual heights (ResH): Intensive (ResH = 33.0cm and 600.0kg N/ha.year-1); Moderate (ResH = 47.0cm and 300.0kg N/ha.year-1); Light (ResH = 47cm and 0kg N/ha.year-1); and Conventional (ResH = 33cm and 0kg N/ha year-1). The efficiency of water use for forage production was higher in intensive and Moderate management. The Conventional management was recommended only for forage production since there is no nitrogen input available because this result was similar to Intensive management in water efficiency. The efficiency of water use to produce goat milk was higher in Intensive management. Moderate management presented higher efficiency of nitrogen to produce forage. On the other hand, Intensive management was more efficient using nitrogen in goat milk production. The amount of water needed to produce one liter of goat milk varied from 893.20 to 3,933.50L. In the moderate management, up to 121.48kg forage and 21.56kg of milk were produced for every kilogram of N utilized. Intensive management is advantageous for water use efficiency as well nitrogen efficiency to produce goat milk in cultivated pasture.

Moderate Grazing Increases Water Use Efficiency for Environmental Health in Alpine Meadows of the Tibetan Plateau

“…The greater the plant evapotranspiration, the lower water content the plant can utilize. Our findings are therefore consistent with those of several other studies (Varnamkhasti et al, 1995;Xu et al, 1998;Cavalcante et al, 2016). There was a negative correlation between WUE and soil bulk density.…”

“…However, our experimental results show that for all the dominant, coexisting, and functional group species, the WUE of plants was the highest under moderate grazing treatment, and grazing activities increased the WUE of plants. Similar results by Cavalcante et al (2016) revealed that moderate grazing increased WUE by 37.72% compared to traditional grazing. In Inner Mongolia, the typical grassland community WUE was highest under moderate grazing (Lv, 2016), which was increased by 62.86% compared to no grazing.…”

“…Grazing has a significant impact on stable isotope indicators in plants (Chen, 2003). Studies on grazing pastures in Guinea, Brazil, Tanzania, and plant WUE showed an increasing trend under moderate grazing (Cavalcante et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2016). The δ 13 C of Stipa breviflora plants showed a downward trend with an increasing grazing activity (Wang et al, 2016).…”