Herbaceous biomass production in the establishment of an agriculturecattle rearing-forest integration system with two alternatives for weeds control

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Veronica A. Mota
L. D. T. Santos
Jatnel Alfonso
A. Santos Junior
V. D. Machado
M. V. Santos
G. L. D. Leite

Abstract

The productive performance of an agriculture-cattle rearing-forest integration system (ILPF)1 , formed by intercropping sorghum and three
forage grasses (Andropogon gayanus, Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania, and Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xara?s) was studied and managed
with two variants of weeds control at the Northern region of Minas Gerais. A random block design was used with factorial fit (3 x 2) and
four replicates. Before the sorghum collection for forage, 90 d after the sowing, plant height, number of plants, and dry matter yield were
measured in sorghum and the forage plants. Later, 290 d after the sowing, the dry matter of the weeds, the sprouts of sorghum, and the
forage plants were estimated again. Also, the intercropping efficiency was determined through the calculation of the index of equivalence
of the area, partial and total. The factors under study, intercropping of forage plants and weeds management, did not show interaction
(P > 0.05) in the indicators. The atrazine application did not affect the sorghum production or the pastures establishment. In the monoculture,
the production of A. gayanus cv. Planaltina was 11.24 % lower than that recorded in the intercropping of B. brizantha cv. Xara?s and P. maximum cv. Tanzania, which produced 505.03 and 134.64 % more than in the monoculture. The index of equivalence of the area reached higher efficiency (17 %) in the intercropping of Guinea grass with sorghum. After the cut, P. maximum attained 1.40 m of height and its biomass production (3.89 t ha-1) was superior to that of other pasture species. It was concluded that, in ILPF systems, the use of atrazine does not affect its productive performance, when using direct sowing. Sorghum yield is not affected by the intercropping of Guinea grass, brachiaria, and andropogon, and it is an ecologically viable alternative in the implantation or renewal of the grasslands.
Key words: pastures, intercropping, sorghum, herbicide, forage grasses.

Article Details

How to Cite
Mota, V. A., Santos, L. D. T., Alfonso, J., Santos Junior, A., Machado, V. D., Santos, M. V., & Leite, G. L. D. (2011). Herbaceous biomass production in the establishment of an agriculturecattle rearing-forest integration system with two alternatives for weeds control. Cuban Journal of Agricultural Science, 45(3). Retrieved from https://cjascience.com/index.php/CJAS/article/view/122
Section
Pasture Science and other Crops
Author Biographies

Veronica A. Mota

Instituto de Ci?ncias Agr?rias, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil

L. D. T. Santos

Instituto de Ci?ncias Agr?rias, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil

Jatnel Alfonso

Instituto de Ciencia Animal, Apartado Postal 24, La Habana, Cuba

A. Santos Junior

Instituto de Ci?ncias Agr?rias, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil

V. D. Machado

Instituto de Ci?ncias Agr?rias, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil

M. V. Santos

Universidade Federal de Vi?osa, Brasil

G. L. D. Leite

Instituto de Ci?ncias Agr?rias, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brasil

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