Studies on 35 mixtures of grasses and legumes under two managements. I. Stablishment

Abstract

This experiment was carried out during three consecutive years in the Instituto de Zootecnia in Nova Odessa, State of São Paulo, Brazil comparing 35 mixtures of seven grasses and five legumes under two managements simulation (high and low managements). The utilized design was a complete randomized blocks with two replications beeing the species distributed in interscted strips with a total of 140 plots of 49m² each. During the dry and wet seasons, it was evaluated the botanic composition (n.º of plants per area and ground covering), dry matter amount and crude protein percentage of the forage plants. In the midst of the grasses, under the high management, the colonial grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) was contrasted with the others and under the low management Setaria anceps cv. Kazungula gave better results. Among the legumes, perennial soybean overcame the other species. The selection of the better mixtures was based on soil covering, dry matter amount and percentage of legumes in the mixture. Therefore, these mixtures were selected : a) high management: Colonial grass + Siratro, Gatton Panic + Siratro, Colonial grass + Perennial Soybean, Paspalum virgatum + Perennial Soybean, Setaria kazungula + Perennial Soybean and Green Panic + Centrosema; b) low management: Green Panic + Siratro, Paspalum virgatum + Siratro, Green Panic + Perennial Soybean, Paspalum virgatum + Perennial Soybean, Gatton Panic + Perennial Soybean and Setaria kazungula + Perennial Soybean. Inside the paper are the protein levels of the selected mixtures and the perspectives for the use of them for dairy and meat cattle.