Forage Production and Bromatological Composition of Forage Species Intercropped With Soybean

Abstract

Brazil is one the largest soybean and cattle producer worldwide and degrade pasture is one of the major problem in the Cerrado region. Integrated crop-livestock system is a key to increase grower income, to reduce crop yield loss by water deficit during growing season and to reclaim degraded pasture. However, forage production and its quality is important to evaluate under integrated crop-livestock system. The objective of this study was to evaluate forage production and the bromatological composition of different forage species in monoculture and in intercropping with soybean in an oversowing system. A completely randomized block design with four replications in a 5 × 2 + 1 factorial scheme, with five forage species (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu; U. ruziziensis; P. maximus cv. Mombaça; P. infestans cv. Massai and P. americanum) and two cropping systems (monoculture and a consortium with soybeans) and a standard treatment (P. americanum in succession with soybeans). The forage productivity and the bromatological composition of the forages were evaluated. The species U. ruziziensis, U. brizantha, M. maximum and P. infestans presented higher forage production capacity, when cultivated in consortium with soybeans and in monoculture, in relation to P. americanum. The cultivation of the forages U. ruziziensis, U. brizantha, M. maximum and P. americanum in monoculture produced higher productivity than that in consortium with soybeans. The forages U. ruziziensis and U. brizantha intercropped with soybean presented a better nutritional value over the autumn-winter period.

Soybean yield in integrated crop–livestock system in comparison to soybean–maize succession system

“…Among integrated systems, forage succession is an advantageous technique for the use of pasture to feed cattle during the dry season, after which biomass is formed for the no-till system for the next crop (Naudin et al ., 2015; Andrade et al ., 2020). The amount of biomass and the long half-life of the forages deposited on the soil surface contribute to water retention and reduce losses by evapotranspiration.…”

Physiological and production performance of maize and soybean in crop-livestock-forest integration system under hydrogel rates and nitrogen and potassium topdressing

“…Maize crops have been used due to their capacity to compete with forage species (Vilela et al, 2011). Soybean crop is used to recover degraded areas, in an arrangement of rotation with pasture (De Andrade et al, 2020). Both crops have presented good economic results in many regions of Brazil (Costa et al, 2018).…”