Animal production in Tanzania grass swards fertilized with nitrogen

Marcos Weber Do Canto,Aníbal De Moraes,André Ricardo Hoeschl,Eliane Gasparino,Amadeu Bona Filho

doi:10.1590/s1516-35982009000700003

Marcos Weber Do Canto, Aníbal De Moraes + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1516-35982009000700003

Copy DOI

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) at 100, 200, 300, and 400 kg ha-1 was applied to Tanzania grass swards to evaluate the animal response and relationships between sward characteristics and the performance of young Nellore bulls (Bos indicus) under continuous stocking. A completely randomized experimental design was used with two replications between 11 November 2001 and 15 April 2002 when the sward heights were maintained at 60 cm by using different stocking rates. The average daily gain (ADG) (0.73 kg d-1) was not affected by N doses while the number of animal days ha-1 increased linearly from 515 to 1267. On the other hand, the linear increase in the animal yield was 399, 653, 755, and 895 kg ha-1 for N at 100, 200, 300, and 400 kg ha-1, respectively, while the ratio between the liveweight gain (kg) and N (kg ha-1) decreased. Correlation coefficients between ADG and herbage mass, green leaf mass, green herbage mass, proportion of green leaf and leaf:culm ratio were low and nonsignificant. Under the conditions in Northwestern Paraná, the application of N to swards of Tanzania grass is a management option for increasing beef cattle production.

Highlights

Tropical grasses have been the most important herbage plants for beef cattle production in Paraná State, Brazil, where sward fertilization is still rare under most on-farm conditions
In the Brazilian subtropics, reports of the effects of continuous stocking on the performance of young Nellore bulls grazing Tanzania grass swards fertilized with different N doses are still rare. The objective of this grazing trial was to verify the effects of four N fertilization rates on the average daily gain (ADG), herbage allowance, animal yield and stocking rate of Tanzania grass under continuous stocking and the influence of sward characteristics on the ADG of young Nellore bulls
The sward heights which were imposed by the grazing management significantly affected the sward characteristics where the herbage mass, green leaf mass and green herbage mass were linearly increased (P

Summary

Introduction

Tropical grasses have been the most important herbage plants for beef cattle production in Paraná State, Brazil, where sward fertilization is still rare under most on-farm conditions. According to Gontijo Neto et al (2006), the availability of dry matter (DM), leaves, the sward height, and the leaf:culm ratio had high correlation with the herbage intake of Tanzania grass under different leaf lamina allowances under intermittent defoliation. In the Brazilian subtropics, reports of the effects of continuous stocking on the performance of young Nellore bulls grazing Tanzania grass swards fertilized with different N doses are still rare. The objective of this grazing trial was to verify the effects of four N fertilization rates on the ADG, herbage allowance, animal yield and stocking rate of Tanzania grass under continuous stocking and the influence of sward characteristics on the ADG of young Nellore bulls

Material and Methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusions

Literature Cited