Abstract
The Eastern Cape Province, South Africa is faced with inadequate quantity of livestock feed especially during the drier (winter) seasons. Forage legumes were over sown into natural grasses to determine their potential to improve feed quality and quantity. Four forage legumes namely: Trifolium vesiculosum (Arrowleaf clover), Lespedeza cuneata (sericea lespedeza) , Trifolium repens (white clover) and Lotus corniculatus (birdsfoot trefoil) were intercropped with native grasses in the old arable land located in Lushington communal area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The treatments consisted of natural grasses growing in pure stands and native grasses intercropped with forage legumes grown under rain-fed conditions. Grasses and legumes were harvested for dry matter yield (DMY) once in spring 2013 (September - November), summer 2014 (December-February), autumn 2014 (March-May) and winter 2014 (June -August). Amongst the legumes, L. cuneata was more (P<0.05) productive than rest of the legumes. However, T. vesiculosum was the least (P <0.05) productive legume during the four seasons. Total dry matter (TDM) yield was higher (P<0.05) during summer and lower during winter seasons, respectively. Grasses harvested in autumn had the highest (P<0.05) 12% crude protein (CP) than those harvested in winter which, had the lowest 4.6% CP content. Similarly, all legume pastures harvested in spring had superior (p<0.05) 10.8% CP, while those harvested in winter had the least 3.5% CP. Likewise, forages harvested during the wet seasons (i.e. autumn and or summer) had improved (P < 0.05) herbage micro nutrient content than those harvested in the drier (winter) season. Results of the study indicated that overall total dry matter yield of grass-legume mixtures was higher than that of sole natural grasses, with grasses constituting the major component of the herbage yield. Results from this study also indicated that forages produced in wetter seasons had superior biomass yield and nutritive value, respectively.
Highlights
Legume pastures are the basis of pasture and animal production systems in many parts of the world including South Africa, and they present an alternative and supplementary source of nutrients for sheep and cattle in various agro ecological areas
Plots planted with L. cuneata, T. vesiculosum and L. corniculatus had highest grass dry matter (DM) yield in summer, whereas in the remaining seasons, yield was statistically similar
The results of the current study showed that legume introduction had a positive effect on the forages’ overall dry matter yield (DMY)
Summary
Legume pastures are the basis of pasture and animal production systems in many parts of the world including South Africa, and they present an alternative and supplementary source of nutrients for sheep and cattle in various agro ecological areas. Legumes are commonly included in livestock and cropping systems through intercropping. Intercropping forage legumes with grasses presents a potential to increase productivity, herbage nutritive value and resource efficiency. In this context, production systems incorporating legume fodder crops can play a fundamental role in improving soil fertility, allowing efficient water and nutrient use, and bridging the fodder flow gap that is prevalent during dry spells (Evans et al [3]). The transfer of N from legumes to associated species in the pasture or to other crops in a legume-crop rotation system
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