Is the Integration between Corn and Grass under Different Sowing Modalities a Viable Alternative for Silage?

• Published in: Animals (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 3; p. 425
• Main Authors: Herrera, Dayenne Mariane, Peixoto, Wender Mateus, de Abreu, Joadil Gonçalves, Dos Reis, Rafael Henrique Pereira, de Sousa, Fabiano Gama, Balbinot, Ernando, Klein, Vanderley Antônio Chorobura, Costa, Ricardo Pereira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26-01-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Agricultural ecosystems; Agricultural practices; Agricultural production; Ammonia; Animal production; Cattle; Corn; Corn silage; Crop production; crop–livestock integration; Cultivars; delayed sowing; Design of experiments; Experimental design; Fermentation; Fertilizers; Grasses; Herbicides; Integration; Intercropping; Livestock; Livestock feeds; Megathyrsus maximus; Nitrogen; Nutritive value; Productivity; Resource utilization; Seasons; Silage; Social factors; Urochloa brizantha; Vegetables; Zea mays; crop–livestock integration; Urochloa brizantha; delayed sowing
• ISSN: 2076-2615; 2076-2615
• DOI: 10.3390/ani13030425

This study aimed to evaluate the fermentation pattern and dry-matter losses in corn (
L.) silage intercropped with
cv. Marandu and
cv. Mombasa grasses in different sowing modalities through crop-livestock integration. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, which were arranged in a 2 × 5 factorial scheme with four repetitions. The first factor consisted of the grass cultivars Marandu and Mombasa. The second factor was the sowing modalities of grasses intercropped with corn: (1) simultaneous row sowing and inter-row corn sowing (no fertilizer); (2) simultaneous row sowing and inter-row corn sowing (with fertilizer); (3) simultaneous sowing with double grass row in the corn inter-row; (4) delayed sowing inter-row at 7 days after corn emergence; and (5) delayed sowing inter-row at 14 days after corn emergence. The forage buffer capacity (BC), silage pH and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH
-N) content, forage (FORDM) and silage dry-matter (SILDM) percentages, gas losses (GL), effluent losses (EL), and dry-matter recovery (DMR) parameters on the ensilage were evaluated. Only forage BC, silage NH
-N, and silage DMR variables differed (
< 0.05) from the control silage (monocropped corn) when the integration was carried out. The grass cultivar factors and sowing modalities for BC and NH
-N variables had an effect. The intercropping of corn and Marandu grass or Mombasa grass, in any grass sowing modality, did not affect the quality of the silage.