Abstract
The aim of this research was to evaluate elephant grass under an organic and a conventional system. Under the organic system, species with complementary growth periods were combined; elephant grass was planted in rows 3.0 m apart and ryegrass was sown between the rows of elephant grass during the winter period, with spontaneous species being allowed to develop during the summer period. For the conventional production, two types of pasture were studied: one using the same strategy as for the organic production, and the other with a monocrop of elephant grass. Under the conventional and organic systems, 120 kg of N ha-1 were applied as chemical and organic fertiliser (cattle manure and pig slurry) respectively. Holstein cows were used in the evaluation. The experimental design was completely randomised, with three treatments (forage systems), three replications (paddocks) and measurements repeated over time (season). During the experimental period (370 days), nine grazing cycles were carried out under the organic and conventional systems (elephant grass in association with other forages) and eight grazing cycles under the conventional system (a monocrop of elephant grass). Forage production was 31.6, 32.8 and 24.2 t ha-1, and the stocking rate was 3.4, 2.1 and 4.6 AU ha-1 day-1 under the respective systems. Better results for forage production and distribution were found under the organic and conventional systems including a mixture of forages. The best results for leaf to stem ratio in the elephant grass and for stocking rate were seen under the monocrop system.
Highlights
The production and consumption of organic food has increased in recent decades
Differences (p≤0.05) were seen among forage systems for stocking rate, with greater values in the monocrop pasture, due to the greater contribution of forage mass and the leaf to stem ratio of the elephant grass. This result is confirmed by the correlation found between the stocking rate and leaf to stem ratio of the elephant grass (r = 0.41, p = 0.0128)
The results show that elephant grass can be used in association with other species under both organic and conventional production
Summary
The production and consumption of organic food has increased in recent decades. This includes public concern over the production process, seeking a process that does not pollute the environment or exert undue pressure on natural resources, but that takes into account aspects related to social equity (CASTRO NETO et al, 2010). Research conducted with this forage is based on a conventional strategy of pasture management (OLIVO et al, 2009), and there are few studies on the response of the crop to organic production systems, which use a mixture of forage species (AZEVEDO JÚNIOR et al, 2012). The aim of this research was to evaluate elephant grass used for grazing under organic production as to plant response and plant-animal interaction, compared to conventional production
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