Feeding Systems with Legumes to Intensify Dairy Farms - cgiar

associated pasture. Also, the percentage of weeds was reduced in the
associated pasture.
Table 1. Forage availability and botanical composition of a pasture of
Brachiaria brizantha cv. La Libertad alone and associated with
Arachis pintoi and Centrosema brasilianum during the rainy
seasons of 1997-1999 (Esparza, Costa Rica).
Year
t/ha Grasses
(%)
Sole cropped pasture Associated pasture
A. pintoi
(%)
Legumes a
(%)
Weeds
(%)
51
t/ha Grasses
(%)
A. pintoi
(%)
Legumes
(%)
1997 4,113 62 0 22 16 5,105 57 18 13 12
1998 4,483 67 0 18 15 5,408 58 24 4 14
1999 6,306 88 0 8 3 7,155 54 42 5 1
Av. 4,967 72 0 16 11 5,889 56 28 7 9
a. Calopogonium mucunoides, Zornia spp., and Aeschynomene spp. were found in addition to C. brasilianum.
Weeds
(%)
Milk production. The average milk production of cows grazing the
native pasture and sole cropped pasture of B. brizantha were similar (Table
2). However, the average production obtained on the associated pasture was
higher than that obtained on the native pasture (Table 3). Both trials were
carried out independently, using the native pasture as check.
During 1997, the increase in milk production was higher compared
with that of 1998 and 1999, because cows received a daily supplementation
of 5 kg chicken manure and 1.5 kg of soybean hulls.
Table 2. Average milk production of dual-purpose cows grazing native
pastures and Brachiaria brizantha during the rainy seasons of
1997-1999 (Esparza, Costa Rica).
Year
Milk production on two types of pasture
(kg/cow per day) a
Nativeb Brachiaria brizantha alone
1997 8.6 9.0
1998 7.5 7.7
1999 7.6 7.8
Average
a. Average of 26 milking cows.
b. Mainly B. ruziziensis.
7.9 a* 8.2 a
* Averages in the same row followed by the same letter did not differ significantly
(P = 0.2271) using the Student’s (t) test.