Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

One year after the bank was established and submitted to cutting
during the dry season, an area with 210 plants was selected for the present
study. To determine the productivity of cv. Veraniega, a uniformity cut was
performed at test heights in April 1998. Two ages of regrowth (60 and 90
days) and three cutting heights (30, 60, and 90 cm above the ground) were
assessed.
At each cutting, the height of all plants was evaluated and 15 plants of
each plot were selected at random to perform the cutting at the
corresponding age and height; the number of sprouts in each was measured
as well as DM yield/plant. The percentage of CP, acid and neutral detergent
fiber, and lignin contents were determined in the laboratory. A Latin square
design was used, and the averages were separated by the Waller-Duncan
test (Steel and Torrie, 1988).
Frequent analyzes were also made to determine the effect of the legume
on soil fertility.
Results and Discussion
The effect of the age of regrowth and cutting height on yield of C.
argentea during 1998-2000 is indicated in Table 1. All cutting heights tested
tended to increase DM production per plant and per hectare. As cutting
height increased from 30 to 90 cm, DM production doubled. Likewise, the
number of sprouts/plant tended to increase with increasing cutting height.
Table 1. Average DM yield, plant height, and number of sprouts of Cratylia
argentea cv. Veraniega at two ages of regrowth and at three cutting
heights during 1998-2000 (Esparza, Costa Rica).
Age of Characteristic
Cutting height (cm)
Average
regrowth
(days)
30 60 90
Height of
regrowth 0.5
0.5
0.6
0.5
No. of
sprouts/plant
10.5 12.3 17.1 13.3
DM (g/plant) 89.7 a* (40) c 60
110.6 a (43.4) 178.1 a (44.5) 126.1(42.6)
a
DM (t/ha) 1.3 a (40.7) 1.7 a (42.4) 2.7 a (44.2) 1.9 (42.9)
90 Height of
regrowth
0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9
No. of
sprouts/plant
11.7 15.0 17.1 14.6
DM (g/plant) 256.9 b (27) 304.9 b (34) 494.9 b (28.3) 352.2 (29.9)
b
DM (t/ha) 3.9 b (27.3) 4.6 b (34.1) 7.4 b (28.4) 5.3 (29.9)
a. Average of 11 cuttings
b. Average of 8 cuttings.
c. In parentheses, percentage of total DM production during the dry season.
* Averages of the same cutting height and row followed by the same letters do not differ significantly (P = 0.05),
according to Duncan´s test.
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