scholarly journals Intercropping of Cereals and Legumes for Forage Production

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 07-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamdollah ESKANDARI ◽  
Ahmad GHANBARI ◽  
Abdollah JAVANMARD

Cereals are high important in feeding ruminant animals for their high dry matter production and low cost. However, cereals forage is poor in protein content which shows their low quality and nutritive value. Regarding to high feed costs of protein supplementations, legumes can be used in livestock nutrition for their high protein content and, thus, providing cost saving. Since legumes have low dry matter yield, acceptable forage yield and quality can obtained from intercropping of cereals and legumes compared with their sole crops. In this paper, forage quality indicators and different factors affecting forage quality are discussed. Forage production and quality of different cereals-legumes intercropping are also reviewed, where; different legumes had different effect on forage quality when intercropped with specific cereal. Regarding to forage quality and quantity, different cereals also led to different production of forage. A number of factors which must be noticified in selecting cereal-legume intercropping compositions, especially for forage production, were considered.

AGROFOR ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Darko UHER ◽  
Zlatko SVEČNJAK ◽  
Dubravka DUJMOVIĆ-PURGAR ◽  
Dario JAREŠ ◽  
Ivan HORVATIĆ

Maize forage is poor in protein content which shows its low quality and nutritive value. Regarding to high feed costs of protein supplementations, legumes can be used in livestock nutrition for their high protein content and, thus, providing cost savings. Since legumes have low dry matter yield, acceptable forage yield and quality can obtained from intercropping cereals and legumes compared with their sole crops. In this study, maize (Zea mays L.) and climbing bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were intercropped in different sowing densities and their monocropping equivalents were tested to determine the best intercropping system on forage yield and quality. Maize was cultivated alone (75 000 plants ha-1) and intercropped with bean as follows: 75 000 plants ha-1 of maize and 37 500 plants ha-1 of bean (MB1), 75 000 plants ha-1 of maize and 50 000 plants ha-1 of bean (MB2) and 75 000 plants ha-1 of maize and 75 000 plants ha-1 of bean (MB3), in rows alternating with maize. The highest dry matter yield was produced by MB3 (20.9 t ha-1), and the lowest by maize (16.9 t ha-1). All intercropped systems had higher crude protein contents, MB1 (92 g kg-1 DM), MB2 (99 g kg-1 DM) and MB3 (110 g kg-1 DM), than the maize (77 g kg-1 DM). Intercropping of maize with bean reduced neutral and acid detergent fiber, resulting in increased forage digestibility. Therefore, maize intercropping with bean could substantially increase forage quantity and quality, and decrease requirements for protein supplements as compared with maize.


2007 ◽  
Vol 2007 ◽  
pp. 230-230
Author(s):  
A. Balakhial ◽  
A.A. Naserian ◽  
A. Heravi Moussavi ◽  
F. Eftekhar Shahrodi ◽  
R. Valizadeh

Forage quality is a key factor in dairy cattle nutrition. High moisture forages are so susceptible to loss their nutrients during ensiling. Canola is one of the oilseed plants that belong to Brassica species. Canola forage has high level of moisture in its tissues and must be wilted to 60 -65% moisture before ensiling. On the other hand, molasses and urea as two silage additives can be effective in improvement and preservation of canola forage quality. Molasses is commonly used to provide readily available energy for lactic acid fermentation. Addition of molasses can increase dry matter content of silage that related to relatively high dry matter content of molasses (Baytok and Aksu, 2005). Meanwhile, silage protein content can be increased and proteolysis decreased with the addition of urea. Application of urea to harvested forage before ensiling can restrict the fermentation processes and release ammonia to potentially enhance nutritive value of the ensiled crop and reduce deterioration during storage. The main objective of this study was to evaluate effects of different levels of urea and molasses on chemical composition and in vitro DM digestibility of whole crop canola silage.


2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ridzwan A. Halim ◽  
Ali Baghdadi ◽  
Ali Ghasemzadeh ◽  
Mahdi Ebrahimi ◽  
Radziah Othman ◽  
...  

Cereal-based forage production could be considered to have potential to supply great deal of energy-rich feed in animal diets. Experiment was conducted to evaluate effect of corn-soybean combinations of 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 in addition to monocrops of corn and soybean to detremine forage dry matter (DM) yield and quality in corn-soybean intercropping. The crop combination ratio had significant effects on dry matter yield and nutritive quality of forage. The ratio of 75:25 and 50:50 recorded DM yields similar to those of monocropped corn (14.77 t/ha). Forage quality in terms of crude protein (CP) (75:25 ratio 12.75%, 50:50 ratio 13.73% and 25:75 ratio 14.68%) was improved by intercropping due to higher nitrogen availability for corn in intercropping compared with its sole crop (10.83% CP). Increase ratio of corn in corn-soybean mixture, negatively affectd neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) of forage and declined with increasing ratio of soybean plants. Combination ratio of 50:50 gave higher protein yield (1886.45 kg/ha) than other crop combination ratio. Among all the combination ratios, the 50:50 corn-soybean ratio was the optimum giving highest forage yield, protein content as well as protein yield.


2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 147-156
Author(s):  
R. Stanisavljevic ◽  
Z. Tomic ◽  
Z. Lugic ◽  
J. Milenkovic ◽  
D. Djokic

The effect of cultivar and plant density on dry matter yield and nutritive value of alfalfa was studied. The trial was conducted at the first cutting of alfalfa plants in their second and third years of growth, and four cultivars and two different crop densities were tested. The cultivars were found to have significant effect on dry matter yield, proportion of leaf in total yield and content of crude proteins under both densities. The highest forage yield was achieved in first density (20 cm row spacing with 15 kgha-1 seed rate). The wide row spacing (50 cm) with low seed rate (9 kgha-1) was showed lower forage production. The effect of cultivars and plant density on other parameters of forage nutritive value was insignificant. A high positive correlation with the proportion of leaf was found for the content of crude proteins (r=0.961), concentration of potassium (r=0.876), phosphorus (r=0.561), calcium (r=0.550) and content of crude fat (r=0.500). Crude fiber was highly negatively correlated with leaf proportion (r=0.916), while the latter showed no correlation with crude ash (r=0.185) and nitrogen-free extract (0.010).


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 31-31
Author(s):  
Kevin R Meng ◽  
Eric Bailey ◽  
Josh Zeltwanger ◽  
Hannah Allen ◽  
Mikaela Adams ◽  
...  

Abstract Chemical seed-head suppression of endophyte infected tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum) improves stocker cattle performance but may decrease forage yield. Spring nitrogen application increases tall fescue growth with a concomitant increase in ergot alkaloids, produced by the symbiotic endophyte Epichloë coenophiala. We hypothesized that greater amounts of nitrogen applied to tall fescue would increase forage yield and offset losses in forage production from chemical suppression of seed-heads with metsulfuron without effect on alkaloid concentration. Ninety-six steers (270 ± 20 kg) were randomly assigned to one of sixteen paddocks (1.8 ha) on April 18 and continuously grazed for 57 d. Paddocks were blocked by previous use (n = 4) and randomly assigned to one of four treatments; no metsulfuron, no nitrogen (NEGCON), metsulfuron with 0 (MET0), 67 (MET67), or 134 (MET134) kg/ha of ammonium nitrate, applied March 11. Steers grazing MET0 paddocks were removed 17 d early due to insufficient forage availability. Steer weight, forage yield, forage nutritive value and ergot alkaloids in forage samples were measured monthly. Seed-head frequency and species composition were determined in June. Metsulfuron application reduced (P < 0.01) tall fescue seed-heads by 80%. Metsulfuron decreased (P = 0.03) ergovaline but ergovaline increased (P < 0.01) at each monthly sampling across treatments. Nitrogen had no impact on ergovaline concentration (P = 0.50). Forage yield tended to be least (P = 0.07) for MET0, intermediate for NEGCON and MET67, and tended to be greatest for MET134 (P = 0.08). Steer ADG was not affected by treatment (P < 0.80). Metsulfuron decreased NDF (P=0.02) regardless of fertilization rate. Forage CP increased with fertilization (P < 0.01) and no differences were detected between NEGCON and MET0 (P = 0.45). Species composition was not impacted (P >0.07) by treatment. Metsulfuron decreased seed-head growth and ergovaline concentration in tall fescue. Additional nitrogen fertilizer ameliorated forage yield lost to metsulfuron application but did not impact steer gain.


1976 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hadjichristodoulou

SUMMARYThe effect of stage of harvesting on dry-matter (D.M.) yield and chemical composition of barley, wheat and the legumes common vetch (F. sativa), woollypod vetch (F. dasycarpa) and fodder peas (P. sativum) were studied in Cyprus under low rainfall conditions in a series of trials sown in four successive years. Cereals were harvested at the beginning of heading, 50% heading and the milk stage of grain, and legumes at three stages from preflowering to full pod formation, D.M., protein and digestible D.M. yields and percentage D.M. content increased with age, whereas percentage protein content and D.M. digestibility declined. Under moisture stress conditions before and during the harvesting period D.M. yields did not increase significantly with age. Protein content of cereals under low rainfall conditions was higher than that of cereals grown in the U.K. under higher N fertilization levels. Rainfall conditions affected drastically the performance of both cereals and legumes. However, average yields were satisfactory; the barley variety 628 gave 8·98 t/ha, the highest D.M. yield among all cereal and legume varieties.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violeta Mandic ◽  
Zorica Bijelic ◽  
Vesna Krnjaja ◽  
Aleksandar Simic ◽  
Maja Petricevic ◽  
...  

Maize is the very important silage source in the world. Timely harvesting ensure high maize forage yield and quality. Therefore, the study focused on the effects of four harvesting times (starting at the 12 August every 7 days) on yield and qualitative parameters of forage green mass of maize hybrid ZP 677. The experiment was set in Vojvodina Province, Serbia, during the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. Plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves per plant, ear percentage, forage yield, dry matter content and crude protein content were higher, while stem percentage was lower in 2014 with favorable climatic condition. Forage yield, crude protein content, ADF and NDF decreased, while dry matter content significantly increased with delay in harvesting. The maize hybrid should be harvested when the milk line is three-quarter of the way down the grain that is in the third decade of August.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e95991110508
Author(s):  
Hosnerson Renan de Oliveira Santos ◽  
Mauro Pereira de Figueiredo ◽  
Ingrid Thalia Prado de Castro ◽  
Mário Henrique Melo e Lima ◽  
Luiza Maria Gigante Nascimento ◽  
...  

The objective was to evaluate agronomically nine sorghum-sudangrass hybrids (Sorghum bicolor × Sorghum sudanense) and the nutritive value of their respective hays. The experimental design used was randomized blocks in a 3 × 9 factorial scheme, with three replications. Three cuts were made: 42 days after germination, 29 days after regrowth, and 28 days after the second regrowth. All hybrids showed a higher number of plants ha–1 (P < 0.05) in the second cut. For the green matter and dry matter production of the hays, the values ranged from 49.16 to 62.07 t ha–1 and 9.07 to 11.43 t ha–1, respectively. There were no differences (P > 0.05) in dry matter, mineral matter, or ether extract. The hybrids 1013020, BRS 810, 1013016, and 1624F016 showed higher values of crude protein (CP) of 16.49, 16.17, 16.08, and 15.88%, respectively. Differences were observed (P < 0.05) in neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content. The hybrids 1013020, BRS 802, 1013021, 1013016, BRS 810, and 1624F006 presented lower levels of NDF (60.57, 60.74, 62.15, 62.37, 62.58, and 64.70%, respectively). The hybrids BRS 802, 1013016, BRS 810, and 1624F006, stood out above the others, presenting high forage yield and adequate nutritive value (CP content >13% and NDF content <65%).


2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
J. Hakl ◽  
R. Loučka ◽  
J. Jirmanová ◽  
V. Jambor

Abstract Maize genotype selection represents a practical tool influencing forage yield and quality. The main objective was to investigate the contribution of genotype, site, and year to variability of maize yield and quality in the environment of Central Europe. Totally 63 maize genotypes at 11 sites over a 7-year period were evaluated for dry matter yield (DMY), dry matter content (DM), starch, cob, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), in situ digestibility of stover NDF (NDFD), and organic matter (OMD). The genotype showed the highest variability from all factors where stover NDFD varied from 261 to 529 g kg-1 and stover OMD from 376 to 609 g kg-1. In contrast to the whole-plant, variability of stover traits was more closely related to NDF than the DM content. Under standardized plant DM, all tested factors were significant and allowed interpretation of 70 and 60% of total variation of yield and quality for stover and whole plant, respectively. The average contributions of genotype, site, and year were 30, 7, and 5%, respectively. For variability in plant productivity and nutritive value, the importance of maize genotype selection was more than two times higher than the contribution of environment.


2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. NISSINEN ◽  
P. KALLIAINEN ◽  
L. JAUHIAINEN

The development of the yield and nutritive value of timothy (Phleum pratense L.) both in the primary growth and in the regrowth were studied at MTT Plant Production Research, a unit of MTT Agrifood Research Finland, in Rovaniemi (66°35´N) in 1999–2001. The dry matter yield and leaf:stem ratio were measured from the crop samples, and the contents of crude protein and organic matter digestibility of both whole plant samples and leaf and stem fractions were analysed. In primary growth, the most rapid increase of dry matter, 220–240 kg ha-1 per day, was measured around the beginning of the heading stage. There was a very strong positive correlation between the proportion of stems and the amount of dry matter in the primary yield. The daily growth rate of the regrowth was less than half of that of the primary growth. The fastest decrease, 1 percentage unit per day, in crude protein content was measured at the pasture stage (4–5-leaf stage). During the entire sampling period, the average daily decline in crude protein content in the primary growth of timothy was 0.65 percentage units. The main cause for the rapid decline in crude protein content was the high proportion of stem matter and its low protein content. In the regrowth, during the last four weeks before the harvest, the average daily decline in crude protein content was 0.28 percentage units.The average decline in organic matter digestibility from early pasture stage to late silage stage was 0.9 percentage units per day. The most remarkable change was noticed at the growth stage of timothy when about the half of stems were heading and it was then that the digestibility decreased by more than one percentage unit per day. The rapid decline in organic matter digestibility was due to the low digestibility of stem matter. The daily change in forage digestibility in the regrowth was very small, on average 0.11%.;


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