Performance of tropical legumes grown as understory of a eucalypt plantation in a seasonally dry area of the Brazilian Cerrado

• Main Authors: Maria Luiza F. Nicodemo, Francisco H.D. de Souza, José Ricardo M. Pezzopane, João Carlos T. Mendes, Waldomiro Barioni Junior, Patrícia Tholon, Patrícia M. Santos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical 2015-09-01
• Series: Tropical Grasslands-Forrajes Tropicales
• Online Access: http://tropicalgrasslands.info/index.php/tgft/article/view/219

<p>Nine tropical legumes were grown outside the canopy and in the understory of an 8-year-old <em>Eucalyptus grandis</em> stand in order to assess their seasonal production and forage quality for 4 evaluation periods. Incident photosynthetically active radiation in the understory was 18% of that outside the canopy. In the understory, production of <em>Lablab purpureus</em>, <em>Centrosema schiedeanum</em>, <em>Clitoria ternatea</em>, <em>Pueraria phaseoloides</em>, <em>Alysicarpus vaginalis</em>, <em>Aeschynomene villosa</em>, Estilosantes Campo Grande (<em>Stylosanthes capitata + S. macrocephala</em>), <em>Calopogonium mucunoides</em> and <em>Arachis</em> <em>pintoi</em> was &lt;1 kg/ha/d for most samples. Even considering this low production, the large area available for animal production in forest plantations might justify the interest in legumes because of their high nutritive value. <em>Lablab purpureus</em> produced the greatest amount of dry matter in the understory in the establishment phase (12.1 kg/ha/d), but did not persist. It could be a suitable candidate for a cover legume species mixture to provide early growth. <em>Centrosema schiedeanum</em> developed rapidly and showed a high capacity for ground cover (&gt;70%) and persistence, and had high nitrogen concentration, thus demonstrating good potential for protecting soils and promoting nutrient cycling in forest plantations. Another species with potential is <em>A. pintoi, </em>which established slowly but towards the end of the experiment showed moderate to high understory ground cover.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> Dry matter production, forage quality, shade, silvopastoral system.</p><strong>DOI: </strong><a title="10.17138/TGFT(3)151-160" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17138/TGFT(3)151-160" target="_blank">10.17138/TGFT(3)151-160</a>