Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

Evaluation of Brachiaria decumbens Alone and Associated
with Arachis pintoi on Milk Production and Milk
Components
Francisco Romero and Jesús González
ECAG, Costa Rica
Arachis pintoi was initially used in association with grasses in the
humid tropics. One of the strategies proposed by the Tropileche Consortium
for Costa Rica was to search for alternatives to improve livestock feeding in
those regions where producers find it difficult to maintain a sustainable
production during the dry season. One of these alternatives is the use of
Bracharia decumbens/Arachis pintoi pastures.
Objectives
• To evaluate milk production and milk components in cows grazing a
pasture of Brachiaria decumbens alone, B. decumbens associated with
A. pintoi, and B. decumbens mixed with Hyparrhenia rufa.
• To evaluate the availability, quality, and dynamics of the botanical
composition of the above-mentioned pastures.
Materials and Methods
The experiment was carried out at the Escuela Centroamericana de
Ganadería (ECAG, its Spanish acronym), located in Balsa de Atenas, Costa
Rica, at an altitude of 460 masl. The mean annual temperature is 28 °C,
with an average annual precipitation of 1,500 mm and well-defined dry
(December to May) and rainy seasons (June to November).
A degraded pasture of B. decumbens invaded by jaragua grass (H. rufa),
another of B. decumbens in good conditions, and a 10-year-old pasture of B.
decumbens associated with A. pintoi (CIAT 18744) were used. Each pasture
was divided in two paddocks (1.25 ha each). One paddock was used for
animal adjustment (7 days) and the other for measurements (7 days).
Grazing consisted of 35 days of rest and 7 days of occupation.
The experiment began in October 1995 with the establishment of A.
pintoi in a degraded B. decumbens pasture using plant material sown in
furrows spaced 1 m apart. The pasture was first grazed at 30 days, and
evaluations began in July 1996 and finished in July 2000. Every year,
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