Forage mass and canopy structure of Zuri and Quênia guineagrasses pasture under rotational stocking

Priscila Dornelas Valote,Carlos Augusto Brandão De Carvalho,Cássia Aparecida Soares Freitas,Carlos Augusto De Miranda Gomide,Mirton José Frota Morenz,Domingos Sávio Campos Paciullo

doi:10.37496/rbz5020200225

Abstract

This work evaluated the productive and structural characteristics of the BRS Zuri and BRS Quênia cultivars under rotational stocking management. The evaluations were divided into five periods according to rainfall regime (high, medium, and low rainfall) during 16 months of the years 2016-2018. Pastures were grazed when canopies intercepted 95% of incident light to stubbles corresponding to 50% of the pre-grazing height. The pre- and post-grazing heights varied as a function of cultivar, with higher values for BRS Zuri [...]

Highlights

The intensification of livestock production in the tropics can guarantee sustainable protein production for a growing world population
Taller pre-grazing canopy heights were observed at the beginning of the experiment (Period 1) with an average value of 94 cm, while the lowest average height was observed in period 3 (72 cm; Table 1)
Higher pre- and post-grazing canopy heights were observed in BRS Zuri compared with BRS Quênia pastures (Figure 3), mostly due to the inherent morphological differences (Jank et al, 2017) such as leaf length and number and size of tillers

Summary

Introduction

The intensification of livestock production in the tropics can guarantee sustainable protein production for a growing world population. The search for intensification in Brazilian livestock can be perceived, among other factors, by the replacement of native pastures by cultivated ones observed in recent decades (IBGE, 2017). Panicum maximum Jacq.) is one of the most important tropical grasses species for intensifying pasture-livestock systems due to its high forage production and good nutritive value (Paciullo and Gomide, 2016). Despite the high productive capacity of Megathyrsus maximus, a difficulty encountered in their management is the control of stem elongation (Santos et al, 1999) that deteriorates the canopy structure and, the forage harvesting (Benvenutti et al, 2008).

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