Author(s)

Gean Alves Maia, Kátia Aparecida de Pinho Costa, Eduardo da Costa Severiano, Patrícia Soares Epifanio, José Flávio Neto, Matheus Gonçalves Ribeiro, Patrick Bezerra Fernandes, José Fausto Guimarães Silva, Wainer Gomes Gonçalves

Laboratory of Forage and Grassland, Federal Institute Goiano, Rio Verde, Brazil.
Laboratory of Soil Physics, Federal Institute Goiano, Rio Verde, Brazil.

This study evaluated the dry matter production and chemical composition of Brachiaria forage grasses in the offseason after corn harvest in integrated crop-livestock system. The experiment was conducted at the Federal Institute of Goiás, Rio Verde Campus, using a randomized complete block experimental design, with four replications. The treatments consisted of the forages: Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu; Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraes; Brachiaria brizantha cv. Piata; Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG-4; Brachiaria decumbens and Brachiaria ruziziensis, intercropped in oversown corn for implantation of integrated crop-livestock system. The results showed that intercropping corn with Brachiaria grasses favors the production of high-quality forage in the offseason, and the cultivars of Brachiaria brizantha and Brachiaria decumbens showed higher dry matter production. And cultivars of Brachiaria brizantha (Marandu palisadegrass, Xaraes palisadegrass and Piata palisadegrass) are the most suitable for presenting food of better quality, compared with Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG-4, Brachiaria decumbens and Brachiaria ruziziensis.

Brachiaria brizantha; Brachiaria decumbens; Brachiaria ruziziensis; Crop-Livestock Integration

Maia, G. , Pinho Costa, K. , Costa Severiano, E. , Epifanio, P. , Neto, J. , Ribeiro, M. , Fernandes, P. , Guimarães Silva, J. and Gonçalves, W. (2014) Yield and Chemical Composition of Brachiaria Forage Grasses in the Offseason after Corn Harvest. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 5, 933-941. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2014.57106.