Identification of stylo lines with potential to compose mixed pastures with higher productivity

Abstract

Forage legumes from the genus Stylosanthes are frequently used as pasture cover crops with positive effects in controlling weeds, soil fertility and crop yield while providing livestock feed and additional income for farmers through seed production. Stylosanthes guianensis is native to South America and extensively grown worldwide. Therefore, efforts to improve this species may help the sustainability of livestock production in pasture areas managed with this legume. We evaluated 12 sister lines spread through seeds under clippings in the western Amazon region, Brazil. The results were analysed using the methodology of mixed models. Five sister lines mixed with the grass Brachiaria brizantha were evaluated under continuous grazing for two consecutive years. We estimated the genetic and phenotypic parameters of the forage legume and then identified and validated, under grazing, the sister lines most promising to be used in an area of the western Brazilian Amazon. Total dry‐matter yield, soil coverage, height before clipping, height after clipping and seed production showed low‐to‐moderate broad‐sense heritability (0.1–0.5), contrasting with reduced genetic variability for the characters associated with nutritive value. The S. guianensis lines had, on average, 278 g/kg of crude protein in the dry matter of the leaves and 200 g/kg in the stems, suggesting that the use of this species may help to overcome the low protein content of tropical pastures. There are promising stylo lines that can be used in mixed pastures in humid tropical regions.

About the use of Longitudinal data Analysis in Forage Legumes Breeding: A Review

“…Currently, for the main tropical species, the obtaining of divergent genetic materials and the selection of superior individuals practice the techniques of hybridization and generations advance for forage peanuts, and the recurrent selection among and within families for stylo Valentim, 2009a;Andrade et al, 2015). In Brazil, promising hybrid lines are also being evaluated (Assis et al, 2018) and in Australia, recurrent selection was used with genetic markers to identify recombinant natural crossbreeding plants in stylo, but the genealogical method was widely used in several countries for forage and seed yield in species of the genus (Pereira et al, 2001). This method is equally interesting for forage peanut that originated from a base population representative of genetic variability, obtained by inter or intraspecific hybridization, as a result of natural or artificial recombination Valentim, 2009b).…”

“…In legumes species, it was possible to detect genetic variability in S. capitata genotypes related to anthracnose resistance, a disease that has limited its commercial use, and higher persistence capacity of stylo genotypes in the pasture (Assis et al, 2018;Falco et al, 2016). In addition, there was the identification of forage peanut ecotypes for use in mixed pastures in Brazilian Cerrado and genotypes with shorter establishment time and lower harvest frequencies (Assis et al, 2008;Ferreira et al, 2013;Simeão et al, 2017;Valentim et al, 2003).…”

Pecuária bovina de corte na Amazônia: uma revisão sistemática

“…Pecuária-Floresta) garantem produtividade das pastagens e o desempenho animal semelhante ou superior a sistemas de monocultivos de gramíneas (ASSIS et al, 2018;CARVALHO et al, 2019;DOMINICIANO et al, 2020;. Além disso, a rotação de cultura e a adição de árvores pode melhorar muito os sistemas baseados em forragem, devido à sinergia entre os componentes da lavoura, pecuária e silvicultura, aumentando a produtividade animal.…”

Liveweight gain of beef cattle in Brachiaria brizantha pastures and mixtures with Stylosanthes guianensis in the Brazilian savannah

“…One strategy for long‐term persistence in pastures would be the formation of a soil seed bank and seedling recruitment over time. However, the seed bank and seedling recruitment are low for S. guianensis which probably explains why mixed pastures persist more likely up to the 2nd year and at most up to the 4th year after seeding (Assis, Beber, Miqueloni, & Simeão, 2018), making the mixture unstable in a short‐medium term. Therefore, the current study assessed how much cv.…”