Open AccessTropical Forage Grasses Intercropped Under Lenient Grazing Intensities Promote Greater Soil Cover
Author(s) -
Patrick Bezerra Fernandes,
Rodrigo Amorim Barbosa,
Maria da Graça Morais,
Cauby de Medeiros-Neto,
Henrique Jorge Fernandes,
Antônio Leandro Chaves Gurgel,
Gelson dos Santos Difante,
Carolina Marques Costa,
André Fischer Sbrissia,
Juliana Caroline Santos Santana,
Fábio Adriano Santos e Silva
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of agricultural studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2166-0379
DOI - 10.5296/jas.v8i2.16121
Subject(s) - brachiaria , monoculture , grazing , panicum , intercropping , agronomy , forage , pasture , environmental science , cover crop , biology , agroforestry
The diversity of grasses in the intercropping promotes greater soil cover regardless of the grazing intensity used. The aim was evaluated how cultivation systems (monoculture and intercropped) influence the proportion of soil discovered under different grazing intensities. The experiment was conducted at the premises of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company. The pastures were combined two cultivation systems: monoculture of Panicum maximum cv. BRS Zuri; intercropping of Panicum maximum cv. BRS Zuri, Brachiaria brizantha cv. Xaraes and Brachiaria decumbens cv. Basilisk. Four evaluation cycles were performed, which totaled in 2136 observations. In the contrast between evaluation cycles, it is possible to infer that cycles II, III and IV have a negative effect in relation to cycle I, because after the first evaluation there is an increase in the proportion of soil discovered in the pastures studied. In relation to cultivation systems, the intercropped managed at high grazing intensities impacts negative effects, and it is possible to observe the highest values of uncovered soil, as well as the lowest tussock distribution values. The intercropping of tropical climate pastures has greater soil cover when managed in lenient grazing intensity.