Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Grain sorghum intercropping with Brachiaria brizantha cultivars in two sowing systems as a double crop

2015; Academic Journals; Volume: 10; Issue: 39 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5897/ajar2015.9705

1991-637X

Matheus Gonçalves Ribeiro, Kátia Aparecida de Pinho Costa, Alessandro Guerra da Silva, Eduardo da Costa Severiano, Gustavo André Simon, Welma Santos Cruvinel, Valdevino Rodrigues da Silva, Jessika Torres da Silva,

Soil Management and Crop Yield

The intercropping of grain sorghum with forage grasses is a promising cultivation technique for the production of grains and forage in the Midwest region of Brazil. However, few studies have been performed with the goal of evaluating the development of the two species when cultivated simultaneously in the same area. The goal of the present study was to evaluate agronomic characteristics and grain yield of grain sorghum intercropped with Brachiaria brizantha cultivars under two sowing systems (row and inter-row) as a double crop in the midwest region of Brazil. The experiment was conducted at the Federal Institute of Goias (Instituto Federal Goiano), Rio Verde Campus. A randomized block design was used, with a 3x2+1 factorial scheme, with three replicates. Three cultivars of B. brizantha (Marandu palisadegrass , Xaraes palisadegrass and Piata palisadegrass) were row or inter-row (sowing systems) intercropped with grain sorghum. In addition, there was one treatment of sorghum monoculture. The inter-row intercropping of grain sorghum with B. brizantha cultivars had no effect on sorghum agronomic characteristics and grain yield. However, row intercropping with X. palisadegrass affected the sorghum stem diameter, dry mass production and grain yield. The M. palisadegrass and P. palisadegrass cultivars are therefore better recommended for intercropping with sorghum. The intercropping of sorghum with the tested B. brizantha cultivars was shown to be a viable cultivation practice for grain production as a double crop in the Midwest region of Brazil. Key words: Marandu palisadegrass, Piata palisadegrass, Xaraes palisadegrass, integrated crop-livestock farming systems, Sorghum bicolor, grain yield.