Sustainable Production of Maize with Grass and Pigeon Pea Intercropping

Patrick Bezerra Fernandes (), Lucas Ferreira Gonçalves, Flavio Lopes Claudio, Janayna Almeida Souza, Guido Calgaro Júnior, Estenio Moreira Alves and Tiago Do Prado Paim
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Patrick Bezerra Fernandes: Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano Campus Rio Verde, Rodovia Sul Goiana, Km 01, Zona Rural, Rio Verde 75.901-970, GO, Brazil
Lucas Ferreira Gonçalves: Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano Campus Rio Verde, Rodovia Sul Goiana, Km 01, Zona Rural, Rio Verde 75.901-970, GO, Brazil
Flavio Lopes Claudio: Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano Campus Iporá, Avenida Oeste, n.350, Parque União, Iporá 76200-000, GO, Brazil
Janayna Almeida Souza: Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano Campus Iporá, Avenida Oeste, n.350, Parque União, Iporá 76200-000, GO, Brazil
Guido Calgaro Júnior: Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano Campus Iporá, Avenida Oeste, n.350, Parque União, Iporá 76200-000, GO, Brazil
Estenio Moreira Alves: Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano Campus Iporá, Avenida Oeste, n.350, Parque União, Iporá 76200-000, GO, Brazil
Tiago Do Prado Paim: Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano Campus Rio Verde, Rodovia Sul Goiana, Km 01, Zona Rural, Rio Verde 75.901-970, GO, Brazil

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-13

Abstract: This study aimed to assess the impact of intercropping pigeon pea ( Cajanus cajan cv. Super N) with maize ( Zea mays cv. AG 5055) and Paiaguás palisadegrass ( Urochloa brizantha cv. BRS Paiaguás) on grain yield, silage chemical composition, and post-harvest grazing forage. The experiment was conducted on the School Farm of Instituto Federal Goiano, Campus Iporá. The experiment treatments consisted of three cropping systems: pigeon pea and Paiaguás palisadegrass intercropping (PPPG), maize and Paiaguás palisadegrass intercropping (CPG), and maize, pigeon pea, and Paiaguás palisadegrass intercropping (CPPPG), respectively. It was observed after the fermentation process that the PPPG silage promoted the lowest values of forage mass (FM) and a reduction in the dry matter (DM) concentration. The PPPG silage showed higher values of crude protein (75.28 g kg −1 DM), while the CPPPG silage showed proportionately higher values of total digestible nutrients (616.11 g kg −1 DM). The intercropping did not affect the corn grain productivity, thus obtaining an average value of 4.78 Mg ha -1 . After the silage harvest, during the dry season, a similar forage availability was obtained between the treatments (3.73 Mg ha −1 ). All three cultivation strategies produced abundant forage for grazing, showing that integrated intercropping systems can mitigate the seasonality in tropical forage production.

Keywords: BRS Paiaguás; Cerrado; forage mass; silage; pasture; tropical forage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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