Productivity of Brachiaria humidicola pastures in the Atlantic forest region of Brazil as affected by stocking rate and the presence of a forage legume

Pereira, José Marques; Tarré, Ricardo Martinez; Macedo, Robert de Oliveira; Rezende, Cláudia de Paula; Alves, B. J. R.; Urquiaga, Segundo; Boddey, Robert M.

doi:10.1007/s10705-008-9206-y

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The effect of grass v. legume on ADG could not be assessed for the full database because it was only assessed in two papers (Romero and Siebert, 1980;Pereira et al, 2009), showing that ADG was not significantly affected by the type of forage (average of 3.49 ± 1.51 for a grass-legume mix v. 2.03 ± 1.77 g/kg BW for grass alone; P < 0.005).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta-analysis of nutrient intake, feed efficiency and performance in cattle grazing on tropical grasslands

Boval

Edouard²,

Sauvant³

2015

Animal

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It is essential to quantify the potential of tropical grasslands to allow significant feed efficiency for grazing livestock in controlled conditions such as at pasture. We conducted a quantitative analysis of published studies reporting the experimental results of average daily gains (ADG) and diet characteristics obtained specifically under grazing conditions (17 publications and 41 experiments), which have been less studied compared with controlled conditions in stalls. The database was analyzed to determine the average and range of values obtained for ADG (g/kg BW), dry matter digestibility, intake (DMI) and digestible DMI (DDMI, g/kg BW) and feed conversion efficiencies (FCE), as well as to predict the response of these parameters to the main strategies investigated in the literature -that is, mainly the stocking rate (SR) and the concentrate intake (CI). The ADG reached 1.2 kg BW per day and was directly linked to DDMI (ADG = − 1.63 + 0.42 DDMI −0.0084 DDMI 2 , n = 90, r.m.s.e = 0.584, R 2 = 0.93). The DDMI, which was representative of the nutrient input, was driven mainly by DMI rather than dry matter digestibility, whereas these two parameters did not correlate (r = 0.068, P = 0.56). The average global FCE (0.11 g ADG/g DDMI) showed a greater association with the metabolic FCE (0.17 g ADG/g DMI) than the digestive FCE (0.62). The CI (g DM/kg BW) increased ADG (ADG = 2376 + CI 56.1, n = 16, r.m.s.e. = 441, R 2 = 0.95). The SR expressed as kg BW/ha decreased the individual ADG by 1.19 g/kg BW per additional ton of BW/ha, whereas the global ADG calculated per ha increased by 0.57 per additional ton BW/ha. When the SR was expressed as kg BW/ton DM and per ha rather than as kg BW/ha, the impact on the individual ADG decreased by 0.18 or 0.86 g per additional ton BW/ha, depending on the initial BW of the cattle. These results provide a better view of the potential performance and feeding of cattle in tropical grasslands. The results provide an improved quantification of the relationships between diet and performance, as well as the overall quantitative impact of SR and supplementation.Keywords: grasslands, intake, digestibility, average daily gain, feed conversion efficiency ImplicationThe 41 studies compiled in this meta-analysis highlight that satisfactory average daily gain (ADG) is possible in tropical pastures. The feed conversion efficiencies calculated showed that natural grassland had great potential for animal feeding, which is primarily associated with dry matter intake rather than digestibility. The stocking rate managed as kg BW per ha, studied extensively in the literature, could efficiently increase ADG per ha. The main expected implications of this quantitative analysis of the literature are a better understanding of what governs grazing livestock performance and appropriate management strategies, which prioritize consumption of the forage rather than its digestibility.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta-analysis of nutrient intake, feed efficiency and performance in cattle grazing on tropical grasslands

Boval

Edouard²,

Sauvant³

2015

Animal

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“…No entanto, com a cultivar Comum, o CMS foi maior no período das águas. Pereira et al (2009) também observaram maior CMS durante o período das águas para essa cultivar. Os baixos CMS observados nas duas espécies, e nos dois períodos, podem ser explicados pelos baixos teores de PB nas forrageiras (Tabela 2).…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

“…Teores de PB na dieta abaixo de 6% reduzem a atividade dos microrganismos do rúmen, o que resulta em decréscimo nas taxas de digestão e de passagem do alimento, bem como no consumo voluntário pelos animais Minson (1990). Ressalta-se que os valores CMS obtidos para as duas cultivares, durante o período das águas, foi bem inferior ao observado por Pereira et al (2009) para com a cultivar Comum.…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

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Consumo de forragem e desempenho animal em cultivares de Urochloa humidicola sob lotação contínua

Martins

Euclides

Barbosa

et al. 2013

Pesq. agropec. bras.

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Resumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o acúmulo de forragem, a estrutura do dossel, o valor nutritivo, o consumo de forragem e a produção animal, em pastos de Urochloa humidicola sob lotação contínua. As cultivares BRS Tupi e Comum foram avaliadas durante os períodos de seca e das águas (julho de 2011 a agosto de 2012), em delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com dois tratamentos e seis repetições. Mensalmente, os animais foram pesados e os pastos amostrados para a determinação de: taxa de acúmulo de forragem (TAF); massa de forragem; percentagens de folha (PF), colmo e material morto (PM); e valor nutritivo. O consumo de matéria seca (CMS) foi determinado uma vez a cada período. 'BRS Tupi' apresentou maiores TAF e PF e menor PM do que a 'Comum', durante o período das águas. O valor nutritivo, o CMS e o ganho médio diário foram semelhantes entre as duas cultivares. O conteúdo de proteína bruta da forragem -6,0 e 5,0%, respectivamente, para os períodos das águas e seco -foi o principal fator limitante ao CMS. 'BRS Tupi' recebeu maior taxa de lotação e, consequentemente, possibilitou maior ganho de peso vivo por área (192 kg ha -1 por ano) do que a 'Comum' (126 kg ha -1 por ano). A 'BRS Tupi' é uma boa alternativa para a diversificação de pastagens em solos de baixa fertilidade sujeitos a alagamento temporário. Termos de indexação:Brachiaria humidicola, Urochloa humidicola, BRS Tupi, estrutura do dossel, quicuio-da-Amazônia, taxa de lotação. Forage intake and animal performance in Urochloa humidicola cultivars under continuous stockingAbstract -The objective of this work was to evaluate forage accumulation, canopy structure, nutritive value, forage intake, and animal production in pastures of Urochloa humidicola under continuous stocking. The cultivars BRS Tupi and Comum were evaluated during the drought and wet periods (July 2011 to August 2012), in a randomized complete block experimental design, with two treatments and six replicates. Monthly, the animals were weighted and the pastures sampled for the determination of: forage accumulation rate (FAR); forage mass; percentages of leaves (PL), culms, and dead material (DL); and nutritive value. Forage intake (FI) was determined once a period. 'BRS Tupi' had a higher FAR, PL, and DL than 'Comum', during the wet period. The nutritive value, FI and the daily weight gain were similar between both cultivars. Forage protein content -6.0 and 5.0%, for the wet and drought periods, respectively -was the main limiting factor for FI. 'BRS Tupi' had higher stocking rates and, consequently, made possible a higher live weight gain per area (192 kg ha -1 per year) than 'Comum' (126 kg ha -1 per year). 'BRS Tupi' is a good alternative for diversification of pastures in soils with low fertility that are temporarily subjected to flooding.Index terms: Brachiaria humidicola, Urochloa humidicola, BRS Tupi, canopy structure, creeping signalgrass, stocking rate. IntroduçãoA braquiária humidícola, ou quicuio-da-Amazônia -Urochloa humidicola (Rendle) Morrone & Zuloaga [Sy...

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“…The composite index is an average of all three individual services. Sources: Raich et al 1991, Fearnside and Barbosa 1998, Marsden et al 2001, Freixo et al 2002, Guo and Gifford 2004, Cockle et al 2005, Laclau et al 2008, Uezu et al 2008, Pereira et al 2009, Fialho and Zinn 2012 Marsden et al 2001| †Obtained by dividing the number of forest species observed in the "L1" matrix by the 43 species observed in control plots and large patches ‡Obtained by dividing the number of forest species observed in the agroforest patches by the number of species observed in control plots and large patches §2.9 species/ha |Obtained by dividing the number of forest species in eucalyptus plantations by the number of species in Atlantic Forest fragments…”

Section: Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem service trade-offs and land use among smallholder farmers in eastern Paraguay

Grossman¹

2015

E&S

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ABSTRACT. The trade-off between economically critical provisioning services and environmentally sustaining supporting services often seems absolute. Yet, when land use is inefficient, managers may be able to increase provision of both economically and ecologically sustaining services. To explore such sustainable "win-win" outcomes, I present a model of predicted trade-offs of provisioning and supporting services on smallholder farms in eastern Paraguay. The spatially implicit model simulates smallholder parcels as mosaics of subsistence agriculture, cattle pasture, eucalyptus plantations, and/or natural forest cover, and predicts provisioning and supporting service supply depending on the relative abundance of each land-use type per parcel. I represent provisioning services as the annual, per-ha proportion of a smallholder family's subsistence needs met by agriculture and forestry. I represent multidimensional supporting services as a composite index of forest bird biodiversity, soil organic carbon content, and aboveground annual net primary productivity (NPP) relative to what would be expected in a stand of high-quality Atlantic Forest. I use this model first to predict ecosystem-service supply for 38 actual smallholder parcels in rural eastern Paraguay, and then to generate an efficiency frontier that illustrates the optimal trade-offs between provisioning and supporting services that are biophysically possible for the system. Comparison of the empirical findings and the efficiency frontier indicates that current land use is inefficient relative to the biophysical optimum. All smallholder parcels included in the study but one lie far from the modeled efficiency frontier, indicating that for a given level of agricultural and forestry production, supporting services are not optimally conserved. If parcel owners were able to overcome constraints to sustainability by, for example, transitioning from cattle ranching to agroforestry production, they could protect high levels (often upward of 90%) of the supporting ecosystem services provided by natural forest without sacrificing economically valuable provisioning services. Pathways to such sustainable outcomes are discussed.

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Productivity of Brachiaria humidicola pastures in the Atlantic forest region of Brazil as affected by stocking rate and the presence of a forage legume

Cited by 21 publications

References 31 publications

A meta-analysis of nutrient intake, feed efficiency and performance in cattle grazing on tropical grasslands

A meta-analysis of nutrient intake, feed efficiency and performance in cattle grazing on tropical grasslands

Consumo de forragem e desempenho animal em cultivares de Urochloa humidicola sob lotação contínua

Ecosystem service trade-offs and land use among smallholder farmers in eastern Paraguay

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