Intercropping of sorghum with Paiaguas palisadegrass in a crop-livestock integration system for pasture recovery

Abstract

Intercropping systems have become an interesting alternative for grain and forage production because they are sustainable systems that reduce carbon emissions in degraded pasture areas. However, few studies have used forage species recently introduced into the market, and more studies that assess the performances of these species in integrated systems are needed. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the agronomic characteristics of intercropped sorghum and Paiaguas palisadegrass (including the species name) in a crop-livestock integration system for pasture recovery. The field experiment was conducted in the municipality of Rio Verde, Goiás, Brazil, using a randomized block design with four replications. The treatments consisted of the following forage systems: monocropping of sorghum, monocropping of Paiaguas palisadegrass, row intercropping of sorghum with Paiaguas palisadegrass, interrow intercropping of sorghum with Paiaguas palisadegrass and intercropping of sorghum with oversown Paiaguas palisadegrass. To obtain a desired population of 240,000 plants ha-1, 12 seeds of sorghum and 5 kg of viable pure seeds of the forage species were planted per meter and hectare, respectively. The growth of Paiaguas palisadegrass in the same row as sorghum reduced the sorghum grain yield. The intercropping of sorghum with oversown Paiaguas palisadegrass hindered the initial development of Paiaguas palisadegrass in terms of plant height and number of tillers due to shading, and this effect was reflected in the dry mass production. Row and interrow intercropping provided higher dry mass production without affecting the forage quality. Therefore, the interrow intercropping of sorghum with Paiaguas palisadegrass was found to be a promising agricultural technique for grain and forage production that could be used for the establishment of new pastures or pasture recovery.