Sustainable Production of Maize with Grass and Pigeon Pea Intercropping

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the impact of intercropping pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan cv. Super N) with maize (Zea mays cv. AG 5055) and Paiaguás palisadegrass (Urochloa brizantha cv. BRS Paiaguás) on grain yield, silage chemical composition, and post-harvest grazing forage. The experiment was conducted on the School Farm of Instituto Federal Goiano, Campus Iporá. The experiment treatments consisted of three cropping systems: pigeon pea and Paiaguás palisadegrass intercropping (PPPG), maize and Paiaguás palisadegrass intercropping (CPG), and maize, pigeon pea, and Paiaguás palisadegrass intercropping (CPPPG), respectively. It was observed after the fermentation process that the PPPG silage promoted the lowest values of forage mass (FM) and a reduction in the dry matter (DM) concentration. The PPPG silage showed higher values of crude protein (75.28 g kg−1 DM), while the CPPPG silage showed proportionately higher values of total digestible nutrients (616.11 g kg−1 DM). The intercropping did not affect the corn grain productivity, thus obtaining an average value of 4.78 Mg ha-1. After the silage harvest, during the dry season, a similar forage availability was obtained between the treatments (3.73 Mg ha−1). All three cultivation strategies produced abundant forage for grazing, showing that integrated intercropping systems can mitigate the seasonality in tropical forage production.