Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

Adaptation and Dry Matter Yields
Cultivar Toledo adapts to a broad range of climates and soils, and
grows well, not only in subhumid tropical sites with a 5-to-6-month dry
season but also in humid tropical sites with an average annual rainfall of
4,300 mm. This characteristic was observed in the agronomic trials carried
out at 11 sites in Colombia by the Colombian Brachiaria Evaluation
Network. Although the grass grows well in low-fertility, acid soils, it
performs better at sites where soils are of medium to good fertility. It
tolerates sandy soils and poorly drained sites, although growth is reduced if
the soil is waterlogged for more than 30 days. It also tolerates the dry
season well, maintaining a higher proportion of green leaves than other B.
brizantha cultivars such as Diamantes 1 (Marandú) and La Libertad. The
higher greenery is probably a result of the high leaf tissue content of
nonstructural carbohydrates (197 mg/kg of DM) and few minerals (8% of
ash) in cultivar Toledo. This cultivar also grows well under shade and, in
Costa Rica, at mid-altitudes (1500 masl) where temperatures average 18ºC.
Biomass production of cultivar Toledo was high in Inceptisols in Costa
Rica and Panama, located at sites with contrasting climate, both during the
rainy and dry season. Average production of cultivar Toledo across 11
contrasting sites in Colombia, with cuts every 8 weeks, was about 3.88 t of
DM/ha for the dry season and 5.1 t of DM/ha for the rainy season. These
yields were higher than those of other Brachiaria accessions evaluated at the
same sites and under similar management conditions.
Planting
Cultivar Toledo is easily established by means of its seed, which are of
good quality and give rise to vigorous seedlings. It can also be propagated
vegetatively but, for best results, splits should be used.
Seeds can be broadcast or sown in furrows that are spaced at 0.6 m.
The land may be conventionally prepared with plow and harrow, or the cover
vegetation is controlled with nonselective herbicides according to zero tillage
practices. The amount of seed to use depends on its quality (purity and
germination rate) and on the sowing method. For example, sowing in
plowed and harrowed furrows requires smaller quantities of seed, compared
with sowing by broadcast on land receiving zero or minimal tillage. The final
quantity of seed used can range between 3 and 4 kg/ha for seed classified at
60% (e.g., 80% purity and 75% germination rate).
The high vigor of seedlings of cultivar Toledo and their initial aggressive
growth allows this cultivar to compete adequately with weeds during
establishment. Consequently, the collective experiences of farmers already
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