Under the hypothesis that modifying nitrogen sources and doses could increase nitrogen fertilization efficiency and productivity and improve forage quality, this study aimed to evaluate the morphological composition, structural characteristics and chemical composition of Panicum maximum cv. Massai forage cultivated under different urea sources (common and coated with Policote ResumoSob a hipótese de aumento da eficiência da adubação nitrogenada quanto ao uso de diferentes fontes e doses de nitrogênio, aliado à maior produtividade e qualidade da forragem produzida, este trabalho foi conduzido com objetivo de avaliar a composição morfológica, as características estruturais e a composição química da forragem do Panicum maximum cv. Massai, cultivado sob diferentes fontes de 1 Parte da Dissertação de Mestrado do primeiro autor.

-The objective of this work was to evaluate the inclusion of Fabaceae Flemingia macrophylla (Willd.) Kuntze ex Merr. in the diet of lactating dairy goats arranged in a 5 × 5 Latin square. The diets were composed of 40% of concentrate and 60% of roughage, and the dietary treatments were defined by the level of Flemingia hay inclusion (0%, 8%, 16%, 24%, and 32% in the diet dry matter) replacing Cynodon dactylon cv. Tifton 85 hay. The diets were isonitrogenous, with 14% crude protein. Feed intake, nutrient digestibility, feeding behavior, and ruminal pH and ammonia nitrogen were evaluated. There was no difference in dry matter intake with the inclusion of Flemingia hay in the diet. The digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and total carbohydrates decreased with the inclusion of Flemingia in the diet. The diet did not change rumen ammonia nitrogen concentration or ruminal pH. There were no differences in the feeding behavior or feed and rumination efficiencies. Flemingia macrophylla can be used up to the level of 32% in the dry matter in diets for lactating goats.

The effect of dietary inclusion of increasing levels of Flemingia macrophylla hay on the yield, composition and fatty acid profile of milk from Saanen x Boer goats was evaluated. The diets were composed of 40% concentrate and 60% forage. The treatments were defined by the level of inclusion of Flemingia hay in the diet (0, 80, 160, 240 and 320 g kg -1 dry matter) in replacement of the Cynodon dactylon cv. Tifton-85 hay, distributed according to a 5 x 5 Latin Square design. The inclusion of Flemingia in the diet did not change the milk yield or milk fat content but promoted a quadratic effect on the fat yield. A quadratic effect was observed on the milk protein and lactose contents, but this effect was not reflected in the daily production of these components. The concentrations of vaccenic, rumenic, elaidic and trans-10 C18:1 fatty acids in milk fat increased linearly in response to the dietary inclusion of Flemingia, whereas the contents of palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and α-linolenic fatty acids were not modified. A linear reduction was observed in the lauric and myristic fatty acids concentrations, which was accompanied by a reduction in the atherogenic index of milk fat. A quadratic effect was also observed on the trans-10, cis-12 CLA milk fat content in response to the inclusion of Flemingia in the diet, as well as a linear increase in the apparent transfer of α-linolenic acid from the diet to milk. The inclusion of up to 320 g kg -1 of Flemingia hay as a replacement for Tifton-85 hay in the Saanen x Boer dairy goat diet does not modify the milk production and improves the nutritional quality of milk fat by increasing the contents of rumenic and vaccenic acids beneficial to human health and reducing the concentrations of hypercholesterolemic fatty acids. ResumoFoi avaliado o efeito da inclusão dietética de níveis crescentes de feno de Flemingia macrophylla sobre a produção, a composição e o perfil de ácidos graxos do leite de cabras Saanen x Boer. As dietas foram compostas por 40% de concentrado e 60% de forragem. Os tratamentos foram definidos pelo nível de inclusão de feno de Flemingia à dieta (0, 80, 160, 240 e 320 g kg -1 de matéria seca) em substituição ao feno de Cynodon dactylon cv. Tifton-85, distribuídos segundo delineamento em Quadrado Latino 5 x 5. A inclusão de Flemingia na dieta não alterou a produção de leite e seu teor de gordura, mas promoveu efeito quadrático sobre a produção de gordura. Houve efeito quadrático sobre os teores de proteína e lactose do leite, mas sem reflexo sobre as produções diárias destes componentes. Os teores dos ácidos rumênico, vacênico, elaídico e C18:1 trans-10 na gordura do leite aumentaram linearmente em resposta à inclusão de Flemingia na dieta, enquanto que os teores dos ácidos palmítico, esteárico, oleico, linoleico e α-linolênico não foram alterados. Houve redução linear nos teores dos ácidos láurico e mirístico, o que foi acompanhado por redução do índice de aterogenicidade da gordura do leite. Observou-se ainda efeito quadrático sobre o teor do CLA tran...

The effects of nitrogen (N) dose and urea source on forage mass (FM), percentage of dry matter of leaf blades (LBDMP), stem (SDMP), and dead material (DMDMP), and the forage accumulation rate (FAR) of Panicum maximum 'Massai' (massai grass) were evaluated. We set up an experiment with a completely randomized block design in a factorial arrangement (3×2) + 1, consisting of three doses (100, 200, and 400 kg ha -1 year -1 ), two urea sources (common and coated with Policote ® ), and a control treatment, in five consecutive climatic seasons, including the summers of 2011/2012 (summer I), autumn, winter, and spring of 2012, and the summers of 2012/2013 (summer II). We found an interaction effect between N dose, urea source, and season (p < 0.05). LBDMP linearly increased during dry periods (autumn and winter) and SDMP in autumn and DMDMP in winter linearly decreased when coated urea were used. FAR showed a linear increase with the use of both urea sources, except for common urea in autumn, and the increases in the winter were owing to a greater contribution of leaf blades to FM. The use of coated urea for N fertilization linearly increases FAR in all seasons of the year and improves the morphological composition of the forage of massai grass, mainly in dry seasons. Key words: Forage accumulation rate. Leaf blade dry matter percentage. Nitrogen fertilization. Panicum maximum. ResumoAvaliou-se a eficiência de doses de nitrogênio (N) e fontes de ureia sobre as variáveis massa de forragem (MF), porcentagens de massa seca de lâminas foliares (PMSLF), colmos (PMSC) e de material morto (PMSMM), além da taxa de acúmulo de forragem (TAF) do Panicum maximum cv. Massai (capim Massai). Para tanto, delineou-se um experimento em blocos completos casualizados, em arranjo fatorial (3x2) + 1; constando de três doses de N (100, 200 e 400 kg ha-1 ano-1), duas fontes ureia (comum e revestida com Policote ® ) e um tratamento controle, em cinco estações climáticas consecutivas, verão de 2011/2012 (verão I), outono, inverno e primavera de 2012, e verão de 2012/2013 (verão II). As variáveis analisadas apresentaram efeito de interação entre dose de N, fonte de ureia e estações do ano (p < 0,05 da PMSC no outono e da PMSMM no inverno para o uso da ureia revestida. As TAF apresentaram aumento linear com uso de ambas às fontes de ureia, exceto para ureia comum no outono, e aquelas obtidas durante o inverno ocorreram em função das maiores participações de lâminas foliares nas MF. O aumento da adubação nitrogenada com ureia revestida aumenta de forma linear positiva a taxa de acúmulo de forragem em todas as estações do ano e melhora a composição morfológica da forragem do capim Massai, principalmente em estações com déficit hídrico. Palavras-chave: Adubação nitrogenada. Panicum maximum. Porcentagem de massa seca de lâminas foliares. Taxa de acúmulo de forragem.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen and potassium fertilization on the morphogenetic and structural characteristics and production of Urochloa ruziziensis in two summer seasons (summer 1, 2010–2011and summer 2, 2011–2012) and the autumn and spring of 2011. A randomized complete block design with four treatments (0, 120, 240, and 360 kg ha-1 year-1 of N and K2O) and five replications was used, with repeated measurements in each season, in a split plot arrangement. The treatments were allocated to the plots and the seasons of the year to the subplots. The phyllochron (PHY),leaf appearance rate (LAR), leaf elongation rate (LER), stem elongation rate (SER), tiller population density (TPD), tiller appearance rate (TAR), tiller mortality rate (TMR), leaf growth rate (LGR), stem growth rate (SGR), senescence rate (SR), forage accumulation rate (FAR), and leaf accumulation rate (LAR) of Urochloa ruziziensis were evaluated. There was a positive quadratic effect for the PHY and ELR, with maximum values of 4.3 days leaf-1 and 0.43 cm tiller-1 day-1, respectively. While the SER increased linearly (0.0012 cm day-1 kg-1 of N and K2O) during summer 2. The TPD, TAR, and TMR increased linearly (averages of 1.53 tillers m-2, 0.04% and 0.02% per kg of N and K2O, respectively) with nitrogen and potassium fertilization during spring and both summer seasons. The LGR, SGR, and SR also increased linearly with N and K2O application rates during summer 2 (0.2809, 0.0082, and 0.0411 kg DM ha-1 day-1, per kg of N and K2O, respectively), while the FAR and LAR increased in a quadratic positive form (maximum values of 175 and 129 kg dry matter (DM) ha-1, corresponding to 294 and 237 kg ha-1 of N and K2O, respectively) during summer 2. Urochloa ruziziensis is a forage plant with a high DM production capacity during the summer and a high seasonal forage production.