Evaluation of sorghum and pigeon pea intercropping for silage production in organic dairy farming systems
Legume, supplemental forage, nutritional value, agroecological milk production.
In organic dairy farming, feeding the herd is a challenge, especially during the dry period of the year, due to the reduction in the supply of forage in pastures when voluminous supplementation in the trough is necessary. Forages traditionally used to supplement herds during the dry season of the year (chopped sugarcane and corn, sorghum and elephant grass silage) have low crude protein (CP) content and non-transgenic protein supplements are scarce and expensive , which makes the search for alternative forages with a higher concentration of CP relevant. An alternative to increase the CP of the forage is the intercropping with legumes. In this contest, pigeon pea stands out for being a legume grown in different regions of the world with high forage yield and high levels of CP. Therefore, the objective of the project is to evaluate the productivity, conservation and nutritional quality of sorghum silage (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) cv. BRS Ponta Negra and pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) cv. BRS Mandarim in monoculture and intercropping under different planting proportions. For that, an experiment will be carried out in the Agroecological Farm, in 0.5 ha of experimental area. For the evaluation of the production of green and dry matter, a randomized complete block design will be adopted, with seven field replications. To evaluate the fermentation profile and chemical composition of the silages, forage samples, harvested and chopped, will be packed in PVC silos with a capacity of 2.6 liters, which will be opened after 56 days of fermentation and evaluated for losses, acid analysis acetic and lactic acid and chemical composition.