Agronomic performance and nutritive value of common and alternative grass and legume species in the Peruvian highlands

The agronomic performance and nutritive value of twelve annual and perennial grasses and legumes were analysed in order to define alternatives to local forages for dry‐season feeding of ruminants in the Peruvian Andes. There were twelve species and two fertilizer treatments (no fertilizer and a N;P;K fertilizer mainly applied at sowing) in an experiment with a randomized complete block design with three replicates at each of two sites. Plant height, soil cover by forage and weed species, frost damage, dry matter (DM) yield and nutritive value of herbage were evaluated in 2005 and 2006. Among the annual species, Hordeum vulgare L. cv. UNA 80 and × Triticosecale Wittm. had the highest DM yields when fertilized (8226 and 6934 kg ha −1 respectively). Without fertilizer the alternative cultivars had similar DM yields to that of the local forages. Cultivars of Avena sativa L. had lower concentrations of neutral‐detergent fibre (NDF) (557 g kg −1 DM) and higher concentrations of predicted net energy for lactation (5·86 MJ kg −1 DM) than the other annual grass species (625 g kg −1 DM and 5·01 MJ kg −1 DM respectively), while the legumes were superior in concentrations of crude protein (277 g kg −1 DM) and NDF (362 g kg −1 DM). Considering the low agronomic performance of the perennial forages, a mixture of fertilized annual grasses and legumes appears the most appropriate approach to meeting the demand for forage of high nutritive value in the Peruvian highlands.