Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

some plots. Soybean yields were 50% of those obtained in monoculture in
the Carrillo canton (Costa Rica), in very similar soil and climatic conditions.
Table 1. Production costs of maize for silage making (Pacific Coast, Costa
Rica, 1999).
Cost component Units/ha Unitary cost Total cost
(US$)
(US$)
Land preparation (h) 4 11.70 46.80
Planting
Maize seed (kg)
Soybean seed (kg)
Inoculant (kg)
Fertilizer (10:30:10) (kg)
Labor (h)
Crop maintenance
Fertilizer (urea, kg)
Herbicide (atrazine, L)
Labor (h)
Harvest
Baby corn (h)
Mature maize (h)
Forage (cut-and-carry) (h)
Stationary chopper (t)
Silage (heap silo)
Plastic (t)
Compaction (t)
Labor (h)
18.0
16.0
0.32
100
36
300
2
12
14
14
40
25
25
25
25
38
0.85
0.40
13.35
0.30
1.09
0.20
5.00
1.09
1.09
1.09
1.09
0.17
0.42
1.12
1.09
15.30
6.40
4.27
30.00
39.24
60.00
10.00
13.08
15.26
15.26
76.00
4.25
10.50
28.00
27.25
Total (US$) 401.61
Conclusions
Mixed cropping of maize and soybean for silage making has great
potential in the Pacific region of Costa Rica, not only for increasing the
amount of protein in the final product, but also because of the economic
effect on the final value of the product and partial use of the maize harvest.
Results show that it was possible to pay 77.5% of the cost of making silage,
including planting, harvest, and maintenance.