Yield and Mineral Concentration Changes in Maize and Italian Ryegrass Cropping Systems

Mineral balance between plants and soil to which fertilizer has been applied is important in sustainable agriculture. Cropping systems are chosen based on considerations of crop yield, soil physical and chemical properties and climatic conditions. Thus, the sustainability of a forage cropping system should only be assessed after continuous cultivation has been practiced for several years. Forage crop production is employed in the rice paddies of Japan during summer. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the yield and mineral concentration of forage crops cultivated in hard-textured soils for 4 years

Management Options that Increase Herbage Production in Grassland-Based Livestock Production Systems

Herbage production is the most important measure of performance of grassland systems. Understanding how herbage production responds to various managements is crucial to the success of grassland systems, whether or not maximization of production is pursued. Most of the records of grassland production in the literature are taken as acceptable approximations of net herbage production. Analysis of these production records and accompanying quality data can generalize the response of grassland productivity and quality to individual managements, and can characterize the managements in terms of their efficiency and potential in increasing productivity and quality. Overall, maximum production response is ranked irrigation (11.2 t DM/ha) \u3e nitrogen (N) fertilizer (9.8 t DM/ha) \u3e legume mixture (5.2 t DM/ha) \u3e phosphorus fertilizer (3.4 t DM/ha) \u3e cutting frequency (2.5 t DM/ha) ≈ potassium fertilizer (2.4 t DM/ha) \u3e cutting intensity (1.9 t DM/ha). Maximum response of herbage N concentration is greatest for N fertilizer (16 g/kg DM, for grasses) followed by legume mixture (14 g/kg DM), cutting frequency (8 g/kg DM) and cutting intensity (2 g/kg DM). Management of grassland systems for achieving a specified production and/or quality goal needs to consider different patterns of production and quality response to individual management inputs as well as other conditions (e.g. plant species, site conditions) involved in the systems

Composting Characteristics of Bovine Manure Produced by Conventional Stacked Processing and an Experimental Small-Scale Apparatus

Southern Kyushu is an important center of beef production in Japan and the large amounts of bovine waste that are produced in the region need to be utilized in a way that is not harmful to the environment. One such method is to use the manure to produce organic fertilizer, which can then be used to replace the chemical fertilizer that is used for forage production (Hasyim et al., 2014). The composting of bovine manure involves co-digestion of cow manure with substrates such as sawdust and hay. The composting characteristics of these mixtures are influenced by the relative amounts of manure and the substrate used, and by external and internal composting conditions (Guo et al., 2012). Conventional stacked composting requires large volumes of materials, and repeating the composting procedure to produce compost with uniform characteristics is difficult (Kajiya et al., 2013). However, optimization of bovine manure composting has been established using a small-scale apparatus that can be operated by hand (Kajiya et al., 2014). However, the composting characteristics of the apparatus have not yet been compared with those associated with conventional stacked processing. The present study therefore compared the composting characteristics of these two methods in terms of the temperature profile during the composting process, physicochemical properties of composted manure, and percentage germination of plants; all of these methods have been advocated for use as safety indices for compost intended for application to cultivated crops (Cobo et al., 2002)

Development of mechanical methods for cell-tray propagation and field transplanting of dwarf napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.)

Since dwarf napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) must be propagated vegetatively due to lack of viable seeds, root splitting and stem cuttings are generally used to obtain true-to-type plant populations. These ordinary methods are laborious and costly, and are the greatest barriers for expanding the cultivation area of this crop. The objectives of this research were to develop nursery production of dwarf napiergrass in cell trays and to compare the efficiency of mechanical versus manual methods for cell-tray propagation and field transplanting. After defoliation of herbage either by a sickle (manually) or hand-mowing machine, every potential aerial tiller bud was cut to a single one for transplanting into cell trays as stem cuttings and placed in a glasshouse over winter. The following June, nursery plants were trimmed to a 25–cm length and transplanted in an experimental field (sandy soil) with 20,000 plants ha^(−1) either by shovel (manually) or Welsh onion planter. Labour time was recorded for each process. The manual defoliation of plants required 44% more labour time for preparing the stem cuttings (0.73 person-min. stemcutting^(−1)) compared to using hand-mowing machinery (0.51 person-min. stem-cutting^(−1)). In contrast, labour time for transplanting required an extra 0.30 person-min. m^(−2) (14%) using the machinery compared to manual transplanting, possibly due to the limited plot size for machinery operation. The transplanting method had no significant effect on plant establishment or plant growth, except for herbage yield 110 days after planting. Defoliation of herbage by machinery, production using a cell-tray nursery and mechanical transplanting reduced the labour intensity of dwarf napiergrass propagation

Adaptability and Extension Activity of Dwarf Napiergrass in Southern Kyushu and Elsewhere since Its Introduction to Japan 15 Years Ago

Southern Kyushu is well suited to the cultivation of tropical grasses due to its warm climate, history of herbage production, and extensive areas of abandoned arable land. In 1996, a C4-tropical dwarf variety of a late-heading (DL) napiergrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) was introduced from the USA into southern Kyushu via Thailand. Since 2004, DL napiergrass has been evaluated for its production potential, overwintering ability, and suitability for grazing. In Miyazaki, napiergrass exhibits superior sustainability, persisting for more than 5 years without annual renovation. The species shows excellent overwintering ability in coastal areas and is resilient to pathogens and insects. Evaluation at several sites in southern Kyushu revealed that DL napiergrass required minimum winter temperatures to be above –6.2°C to persist over winter. Cultivation of this grass has been successfully extended to more than 10 sites, including isolated islands around Kyushu and at several of these sites livestock farms are now using DL napiergrass. Temperate Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) can be successfully established in the inter-row to increase biomass in spring and is well utilized by grazing beef cattle. However, the transplantation of DL napiergrass requires the use of nursery plants for vegetative propagation, and this has been efficiently developed using multi-celled tray beds. DL napiergrass cannot survive the winters of central and northern Japan, however as the species produces 5–18 T DM/ha/yr of highly palatable and good quality herbage, there is potential to increase its use as an annual pasture in these areas

Herbage Quality of Dwarf Napier Grass Under a Rotational Cattle Grazing System Two Years After Establishment

Dwarf Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) of a late-heading type (dwarf-late, DL), introduced by the Dairy Promotion Organization, Thailand, has a high over-wintering ability and is suitable for grazing. The objective of this study was to examine the digestibility and crude protein (CP) concentration of DL Napier grass both before and after rotational grazing in relation to the daily liveweight gain of cattle 2 years after establishment in the lowland area of Kyushu, Japan

Grazing Suitability of Various Napier Grass Varieties in Paddocks of Different Ages

Previous studies have demonstrated that late-heading type dwarf (DL) Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) introduced to Japan from Thailand by the Dairy Promotion Organization of Thailand was able to overwinter in the lowland areas of southern Kyushu (Mukhtar et al., 2003). The species has a higher proportion of leaf blade than other normal and dwarf varieties. These studies were conducted to assess the suitability of the various Napier grass varieties for grazing (Mukhtar et al., 2004). The objective of this study was to examine the grazing suitability, herbage quality and wintering ability of three Napier grass varieties for dairy cows on newly-established and four-year-old pastures in 2003 in Kyushu, Japan

Change of Behavior of \u3cem\u3eBos grunniens\u3c/em\u3e in the Alpine Rangeland in the Eastern Tibetan Plateau

Over 6 million yaks (Bos grunniens) are grazed in the alpine rangelands of the eastern Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai Province, China. Degradation of rangelands has been caused by increased numbers of domestic animals following the rise of the human population. In our previous study in northern and southern sites of Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai Province from 2003 to 2006, behavior of yaks and chemical composition of the faeces (Hasegawa et al. 2006; Hasegawa et al. 2008) and vegetation (Li et al. 2006; Song et al. 2006) were investigated and compared between the two sites, and it was suggested that the material circulation was lower and deterioration of rangeland was greater in the former than in the latter. In this study, behavioral observations of yaks in alpine rangeland of Yushu National Ranch from 2004 to 2012 were carried out to estimate the change of rangeland condition in the southern site of Tibetan Plateau