Silage of maize intercropped with grass and pigeonpea subjected to N rates and pasture development in the offseason

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen topdressing rates applied to an intercrop of maize (M) with paiaguás grass (G) and pigeonpea (P) on silage production and on the pasture development in the offseason. Treatments consisted of two simultaneous intercropping systems (M + G; and M + G + P) and four N topdressing rates (0, 80, 160, and 240 kg ha?1). The introduction of pigeonpea into the system and the increasing N rates provided gains in yield and silage quality. Pigeonpea responded to nitrogen fertilization by having good regrowth and good dry matter yields in the intercrop. For silage making, the N rates of 240 kg ha?1 N for M+G and 120 kg ha?1 for M+G+P can be recommended. Nitrogen rates promote an increase in the dry matter yield of the grass and of pigeonpea, resulting in improvements in the pasture during the offseason.

Productivity and nutrient extraction by Paiaguás palisadegrass, single and intercropping with pigeon pea, submitted to doses of nitrogen

“…The intercropping of grass with legume provided higher productivity than the single crop and still requiring less N (Table 3), as verified by Pacheco et al (2011) that the practiced intercropping has a high potential for the accumulation of nutrient-rich mass. It is verified that for the productivity of the accumulated dry mass in the doses of 80, 160 and 240kg ha -1 of N applied in the intercropping C + G provided increases of 3.8, 10.4 and 8.0%, respectively, when compared to the treatment that did not receive N. Bessa et al (2018) in the same area found that in the off-season, at 72 and 245 days after the corn harvest, pigeon peas reduced grass dry matter by 32 and 18%, respectively, due to competition for space, since after the first harvest of the pigeon pea sprouts appeared, occupying a larger area. The contribution of N in the soil fixed by the legume does not occur immediately and is due to the decomposition of the dry matter that remains in the area.…”

“…The effect was linear decreasing with the highest response when N was not applied (Figure 1). Bessa et al (2018) in the same area with no history of legume cultivation found that pigeon pea intercropped with corn and grass responded up to the estimated dose of 166kg ha -1 of N, demonstrating that biological fixation was not sufficient to meet the plant's demand. In the second experiment, pigeon peas were replanted in the same area, with the addition of N left in the soil by the decomposition of the crop residues that remained from the previous crop cycle.…”

“…There is evidence showing the inefficiency of nitrogen fertilization in legumes (Martha Júnior et al, 2007;Dent and Cocking, 2017), since this group of plants can meet the demand of N by biological fixation (Boddey et al, 2020).…”

Soybean performance in succession to the intercropping of corn with marandu grass and pigeonpea in an integrated agricultural production system

“…Corn stands out among the crops used in ICLS due to its various applications, whether in animal feed, such as grains or silage, or commercialization of dry grains. Intercropping of maize with forage plants presents positive results for both grain yield and silage production (Bessa et al, 2018), such as noticed by Pariz et al (2017) in which the intercropping of maize and marandu grass led to an increase in silage production and the forage itself when compared with monocrops. Corn intercropped with forages in the autumn is an alternative to increasing the amount of straw and nutrient cycling in NTS (Mendonça et al, 2015).…”