Biomass availability and crude protein content of four grass species associated with Leucaena leucocephala cultivar Cunninghan in alley pasture system

Abstract

The availability of biomass with high protein content is essential in animal nutrition, which can be obtained by combining grass species with forage legumes. Biomass availability and crude protein content were evaluated as main variables in four grass species and in Leucaena leucocephala, both associated components in a silvopastoral system of alley pastures. The study was developed on the Santa María farm, La Chocolata, in the department of Rivas, Nicaragua, in an area of ​​3.2 ha divided into eight pastures, under an experimental design of paired plots, the Leucaena leucocephala plants were established at a distance 3 m between alleys, 1 m between double rows and 0.5 m between plants. Seven grazing cycles were evaluated with an average frequency of 47 days of rest in the rainy season and 55 days in the dry season. Biomass availability and botanical composition were evaluated with the Botanal double sampling technique one day before grazing. The cutting height for biomass estimation was 80 cm in Leucaena leucocephala, 20 cm in tillering grasses (Mombaza y Gamba) and 5 cm in creeping grasses (Estrella y Tansvala). An analysis of variance and separation of means with Fisher's minimum significant differences (5%) was performed. No statistical differences were found in the variables evaluated in Leucaena leucocephala in the different pastures. The survival of Leucaena leucocephala is rated as good to very good; in both seasons, it contributed 47% of edible biomass to the forage supply in all pastures. Panicum maximun cv Mombaza was the grass with the best average total biomass of 739.2 kg MS ha^-1 in the dry season and 2 890.2 kg MS ha^-1 in the rainy season, surpassing Andropogon gayanus (common) by more than 65 and 240%. and creeping grasses respectively Improve wording. The crude protein content in leaves and tender stems of Leucaena leucocephala increased by more than 8% and 4% in the rainy season and in pastures between 13.2 and 44.6%, Digitaria decumbens cultivar Transvala presented the best value with 11.7%.