TITLE:
Yield and Chemical Composition of Brachiaria Forage Grasses in the Offseason after Corn Harvest
AUTHORS:
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
KEYWORDS:
Brachiaria brizantha; Brachiaria decumbens; Brachiaria ruziziensis; Crop-Livestock Integration
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.5 No.7,
March
26,
2014
ABSTRACT:
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.