The misuse of fertilizers has become a growing concern in terms of agricultural and environmental sustainability. One alternative to reduce the impact of chemical fertilizers is the use of inoculants containing nitrogen-fixing and plant growth promoting bacteria. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of an inoculant with Azospirillum brasilense on the growth and yield of secondharvest maize. The experimental design was randomized blocks with three replications, in a 3 × 5 factorial scheme. The treatments consisted of three inoculation methods (control without inoculation, seed inoculation and leaf-sprayed inoculation at the V4 stage) and five cover N-fertilization doses (0 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 % and 100 %, with the 100 % dose corresponding to 50 kg ha-1 of N as urea). Inoculated plants showed a greater growth for height (9.5 % and 16 %), stem dry biomass (49 % and 6.75 %) and root dry biomass (123 % and 97 %), respectively for seed inoculation and spraying, as well as increases in ear size (8 %), chlorophyll content (4 %), 1,000-grain weight (12 %) and grain yield (29 %), when compared to non-inoculated plants. The effects of N doses were only significant for 1,000-grain weight and grain yield (kg ha-1), with seed inoculation providing a higher yield for second-harvest maize.

ABSTRACT:The high efficiency of sunflowers in extracting water from the soil under water stress conditions is a factor that promotes sunflower cultivation in the offseason. Therefore, sunflowers have been intercropped with grasses of the Urochloa genus in crop-livestock integration systems. However, little is known of sowing methods for intercropping; thus, the present study aimed to assess sunflower agronomic traits and the production and nutritional characteristics of Paiaguas palisadegrass under different forage systems in the offseason in the midwest region of Brazil. The experiment was conducted at the Federal Institute of Goiás (Instituto Federal Goiano), Rio Verde Campus in a randomized block experimental design with four replicates. The treatments consisted of the following forage systems: sunflower monocropped; Paiaguas palisadegrass monocropped; sunflower rows intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass; sunflower inter-row intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass; and sunflower oversown and intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass. The results show that the sunflower rows intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass negatively affect the agronomic traits of sunflower; thus, inter-row sowing and oversowing are recommended. Sowing Paiaguas palisadegrass with oversown sunflower for forage production is hampered by intercropping and shows low forage production. In turn, the intercropped sowing method had no effect on the nutritional characteristics of the produced forage. Intercropping sunflowers with Paiaguas palisadegrass in the offseason has the potential to provide a promising cropping method for the production of achenes and after harvest enables the availability of forage with good nutritional value for use in the offseason in the midwest region of Brazil.

Paiaguas palisadegrass was released in order to meet the requirements of the different production systems. However, little is known about the quality of the forage. The goal of this study was to evaluate the protein and carbohydrate fractionation of the Paiaguas palisadegrass after intercropping with grain sorghum in the pasture recovery, through the integration of crop and livestock production. The experiment was conducted in the municipality of Rio Verde, State of Goias. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with four replications. The treatments were composed of the following forage systems: Paiaguas palisadegrass in monocropped, sorghum intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass in the row, sorghum intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass in the interrow, and sorghum intercropped with oversown Paiaguas palisadegrass. The evaluations were carried out in the four climatic seasons of the year (winter, spring, summer, and fall) in the same plots, over a period of one year, in 16 paddocks under continuous stocking system. The results showed that forage systems did not influence protein and carbohydrate fractionation. The winter season presented higher values of protein and carbohydrate fractionation, negatively affecting the animal performance.

As part of the search for sustainability in production systems, systems of annual crops intercropped with tropical forage plants have recently been used for silage production. Therefore, in the present study we aimed to evaluate the dry matter yield, fermentative parameters and nutritional value of the silage of sorghum intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass in different forage systems and maturity stages in a crop-livestock integration system. The experiment was conducted at the Goiano Federal Institute (Instituto Federal Goiano), Rio Verde Campus, Goiás, Brazil, in a completely randomised design with four replications in a 5 × 3 factorial arrangement with five forage systems (monocropped sorghum, monocropped Paiaguas palisadegrass, sorghum row intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass, sorghum inter-row intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass and sorghum oversown and intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass) and three maturity stages of the sorghum (milky, soft dough and hard dough). The results show that for all sowing methods, the silages of the intercropping systems harvested in the hard-dough stage provide a higher yield per area than did the monocropped sorghum and Paiaguas palisadegrass. The intercropping of sorghum with Paiaguas palisadegrass in crop-livestock integration systems could become an important option for the production of silage because intercropping minimises the inconveniences resulting from the fermentation process of the silage of monocropped grasses and improves the quality of the silage. These findings show this intercropping method to be advantageous strategy for the production of supplemental roughage in addition to contributing to the formation of pasture after the crops have been harvested for ensiling.

ABSTRACT:With the arrival of new early genotypes and high nutritive value and productive potential, millet has been gaining prominence in recent years for the production of silage, and it promises lower costs of production. Thus, the consortium of millet with tropical forages can increase the production of silage, providing more food to be used in the offseason, where there is low availability of forage. The objective of this study was to evaluate the dry mass production, fermentative characteristics and chemical-bromatological of pearl millet silage and Paiaguas palisadegrass in monocropping and intercropping in different forage systems in the second cropping season. The experimental design consisted of randomized blocks with four replicates. The treatments consisted of silage of the following forage systems: monocropped pearl millet, monocropped Paiaguas palisadegrass, pearl millet intercropped in rows with Paiaguas palisadegrass, pearl millet intercropped inter-row with Paiaguas palisadegrass, and pearl millet oversown and intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass (totaling 20 experimental plots). The consortium of pearl millet with Paiaguas palisadegrass contributed to raise the dry matter contents of the silages, except in the system using the overgrowth. Pearl millet silages monocropped and intercropped with Paiaguas palisadegrass presented reductions in pH and ammoniacal nitrogen values as well as favor lactic fermentation. Pearl millet monocropped and intercropped silage exhibited better fermentative and bromatological characteristics than silage obtained from monocropped Paiaguas palisadegrass. Therefore, creating silage from intercropped forages provides an interesting supplemental roughage option that can be used during the offseason for animal feeding.