Is organic fertilizer application a viable alternative to synthetic fertilizer for Piatã grass.

Organic fertilizer in many cases can replace mineral fertilizers and in consequence reduce production costs and improve soil quality. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate productive, morphogenic and structural characteristics of Piatã grass (Urochloa brizantha) fertilized with urea, organic compost and biofertilizer throughout a year. The trial design was a block split-plot in time (seasons) design with 4 treatments (fertilizing with urea, organic compost, biofertilizer and Control) and 6 repetitions. The evaluated parameters were: dry matter production (DMP), leaf elongation rate (LER), leaf appearance rate (LAR), phyllochron (PHYL), leaf lifespan (LLS), pseudostem elongation rate (SER), final leaf length (FLL), number of live leaves (NLL) and number of tillers (NT). The highest LAR values were observed during summer and spring for the treatment with urea, which also produced the highest LER values. No difference was found in SER among the fertilizer treatments but all fertilized treatments were superior to Control. NT and DMP values were highest (P<0.05) in the treatment with urea, followed by biofertilizer, organic compost and Control. In conclusion, while the use of urea provided greatest forage production, applying biofertilizer gave superior yields to organic compost. Other benefits of organic fertilizers should be assessed as well as combinations of organic and inorganic fertilizers

Tamani grass-legume intercropping can improve productivity and composition of fodder destined to haylage or hay.

This research evaluated the biomass productivity and nutritional value of the haylage and hay from intercropping between Tamani grass and different legume species. For the productive characteristics of the different intercrops, we adopted a randomized block design, for evaluation of the combination of intercropping and conservation technic we used 5 x 2 factorial scheme (five intercrops and two types of conservation techniques). The treatments were Tamani grass as monoculture, and the intercrops of Tamani grass with crotalaria, soybean, cowpea, or pigeon pea. The conservation techniques were haylage (520 g/kg of DM) and hay (870 g/kg of DM). Plants were sown in alternate rows, with 45 cm of spacing between the rows. The parameters evaluated were grass and legume biomass production, canopy height, and haylage and hay chemical composition, and in vitro dry matter digestibility (ivDMD). There were no differences in the total biomass production between the intercrops and TA grass monoculture. The treatments intercropped with cowpea and soybean had the highest legume participation in the mixture, promoting an increase in crude protein and ivDMD content of haylage and hay. Haylage and hay had the same chemical composition, although haylage had higher ivDMD than hay. We concluded that intercropping Tamani grass with soybeans or cowpea maintained total biomass productivity and improved the nutritional value of haylage and ha

Confecção de mini-silos de quatro variedades de sorgo sacarino.

bitstream/item/111436/1/19-confeccao-fernanda.pd

Agronomic aspects, chemical composition and digestibility of forage from corn-crotalaria intercropping.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different intercropping and spacing arrangements of corn (Zea mays L) and crotalaria (Crotalaria spp) on the agronomic characteristics, chemical composition and forage digestibility. The experiment was distributed in a randomized complete block design with a 2 × 2 + 1 factorial scheme. The treatments were two cultivation systems (corn + Crotalaria juncea (CCJ) intercropping, and corn + Crotalaria ochroleuca (CCO) intercropping), in two spacing arrangements (A1 (corn and crotalaria sown in the same row) and A2 (corn and crotalaria sown in alternate rows)) plus control (single corn monocropping (CSC)), with six replicates per treatment, for 2 years. Forage plants were harvested when the corn grain reached the doughy-farinaceous phenological stage. Forage mass (total and of each species), morphological composition, chemical composition and in vitro digestibility were evaluated. The forage accumulation was higher for the A1 spatial arrangement. In the second year, the highest total forage mass was verified in the CCO inter- cropping (11 140 kg/ha). The highest corn mass (9402 kg/ha) was observed for CSC. The highest crotalaria mass was observed in the CCJ intercropping in both years. Regarding the chemical composition, CCJ and CCO intercropping had the highest crude protein concentra- tion. The lowest acid detergent fibre concentration was observed in CSC and CCO intercrop- ping, directly reflecting the in vitro dry matter digestibility coefficients. It is concluded that C. ochroleuca, sown between corn rows, had higher forage accumulation and nutritive value among the treatments tested in this experiment