Forage Yield and Silage Quality of Intercropped Maize+Soybean With Different Relative Maturity Cycle

Abstract

The success of maize+soybean intercrop depends on the correct synchronism between species phenological stages at the silage point. Due to it, the experiment was carried out to evaluate maize+soybean intercrop forage yield and silage quality using crops with different maturity cycle combination. The experiment used a randomized complete block design with a 2 × 3 factorial scheme. Treatments consisted of two maize hybrids (1: P1630YHR-early cycle and 2: middle cycle P30F53VYHR) and two soybean cultivars (P95R51-maturity cycle of 5.1; TMG7062-maturity cycle of 6.2) and one control represented by maize monocrop. Silage harvesting was performed when maize had reached 2/3 milk line stage. Intercropping soybean into maize did not affect its biomass yield. Both soybean cultivars present compatible cycles for ensiling together with maize hybrids, since they were in phenological stages from R5.3 to R7 by the time maize was at its optimum stage for ensiling. There was interaction between species for the soybean biomass yield. Maize hybrid P30F53 produced higher biomass yield than P1630 what also resulted in higher amount of total crude protein yield. Intercrop P1630-P95R51 produced 458 Kg ha-1 of crude protein more than maize monocrop. Maize+soybean intercropping system results in higher silage crude protein percentage and yield per area (Kg of CP ha-1).

Can soybean biomass addition optimize corn silage quality?

“…According to Neves & Gai (2017), the pH values found in the present experiment characterize good quality silage and are similar to those observed in other studies using sole maize crop silage (Neves & Gai, 2017;Pauli et al, 2017 ) and composed silage (corn + soybean) (Stella et al, 2016;Batista et al, 2018;Batista et al, 2019). In this context, it can infer that the addition of soybean biomass does not affect the microbial fermentation of the ensiled biomass.…”

“…These results corroborate with other studies that evaluated these intercrop (Batista et al, 2018;Batista et al, 2019) with different proportions of ensiled biomass (Stella et al, 2016). According to Stella et al (2016), from the standpoint of chemical composition, the ensiled corn biomass could be composed of up to 50% soybean plant, resulting in improved silage traits (CP) without affecting its fermentation quality (pH and N-NH3 concentration).…”

“…For the ensiling process, maize (Zea mays L.) stands out as the main used forage crop, due to its high dry matter yield per area, sufficient amount of sugars for the production of lactic acid, good fermentation, providing a feed with approximately 7.7% of crude protein (Goes et al, 2013). Despite that, studies have been showing that the addition of legume biomass, including soybean, has the potential to increase silage yield (Baghdadi et al, 2016;Tsujimoto et al, 2016) and enhance the quality of corn silage, especially the crude protein content (Keplin 2004;Stella et al, 2016;Kim et al, 2018;Batista et al, 2018;Batista et al, 2019).…”

Variedades E Formas De Adubação No Cultivo De Soja E Milho Em Consórcio

“…Segundo os autores, ambas as espécies possuem características complementares: o milho por ser uma cultura C 4 exigente em nitrogênio e possuir porte relativamente mais alto, e a soja de metabolismo C 3 , fixadora de nitrogênio, que ocupa um nicho ecológico relativamente baixo; permitem que ambas as culturas coexistam de forma equilibrada. Portanto, o consórcio milho-soja pode ser implementado em qualquer área, onde o milho e soja são cultivadas, sem que ocorra perdas na cultura do milho consorciado quando comparado ao monocultivo (Saleem et al, 2011;Ijoyaha e Fanenb, 2012;Zerihun et al, 2013;Du et al, 2017;Batista et al, 2018;Batista et al, 2019). O índice de equivalência de área (IEA) é considerado eficiente quando for superior a 1,0 (Vandermeer, 1990) e tanto os consórcios estabelecidos com o milho em fileiras simples quanto em duplas foram eficientes (Tabela 7).…”

Maximizing Land Use Efficiency and Productivity of Soybean and Fodder Maize Intercrops through Manipulating Sowing Schedule and Maize Harvest Regime

“…In their study of intercropping soybean and maize using variable patterns, the authors in [17] concluded that intercropping stimulated the growth of maize, which was negatively reflected on the growth of the accompanying soybean. In a similar soybean-maize intercropping system, the authors in [32] reported that fodder maize will be ready for harvesting and ensiling, while soybean is in the R7 developmental stage.…”