Biomass of the forage in Tifton 85 pastures fertilized with nitrogen and managed under continuous stocking

• Published in: Semina. Ciências agrárias : revista cultural e científica da Universidade Estadual de Londrina Vol. 36; no. 3Supl1; pp. 2275 - 2286
• Main Authors: Andréia Luciane Moreira, Jailson Lara Fagundes, Eidi Yoshihara, Alfredo Acosta Backes, Leandro Teixeira Barbosa, Luiz Fernando Ganassali de Oliveira Júnior, Gladston Rafael de Arruda Santos, Monica Alixandrina da Silva Arruda Santos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Universidade Estadual de Londrina 01-07-2015
• Subjects: Cynodon spp.; Grazing; Sheep; Structural characteristics
• ISSN: 1676-546X; 1679-0359
• DOI: 10.5433/1679-0359.2015v36n3Supl1p2275

The present study, carried out at the Division for Research and Development of Adamantina, SP/Brazil, at Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA) – Polo da Alta Paulista, aimed to evaluate the effect of nitrogen fertilization on the morphological composition, tiller density, leaf area index, light interception and forage accumulation of Tifton 85 pastures subjected to continuous grazing. Treatments corresponded to three nitrogen and control doses (0, 100, 200 and 400 kg N/ha/year), arranged in a randomized block design with four replications. No effect of time of evaluation was verified on the vegetative, dead and total tiller densities of Tifton 85 under continuous grazing with variable stocking rate. The pastures of Cynodon cv. Tifton 85 were affected by the time of evaluation and nitrogen doses, with marked effect on the pasture morphological composition, leaf area index and light interception, which are determinant to forage accumulation. Tifton 85 grass reached the necessary conditions to achieve the maximum growth rate of the culture when managed under continuous grazing keeping the pasture at a height of 15 cm.