Forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid West Africa. I. Establishment, herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage

A short-term improved fallow system based on forage legumes is suggested for crop-livestock farming systems in subhumid West Africa targeted to enhance soil fertility and dry season feed for cattle. At two sites, 13 legume species were compared with the natural fallow vegetation, the nutritive value...

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Autores principales: Muhr, L, Tarawali, Shirley A., Peters, Michael, Schultze-Kraft, Rainer
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 1999
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/43466
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author Muhr, L
Tarawali, Shirley A.
Peters, Michael
Schultze-Kraft, Rainer
author_browse Muhr, L
Peters, Michael
Schultze-Kraft, Rainer
Tarawali, Shirley A.
author_facet Muhr, L
Tarawali, Shirley A.
Peters, Michael
Schultze-Kraft, Rainer
author_sort Muhr, L
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description A short-term improved fallow system based on forage legumes is suggested for crop-livestock farming systems in subhumid West Africa targeted to enhance soil fertility and dry season feed for cattle. At two sites, 13 legume species were compared with the natural fallow vegetation, the nutritive value of which typically fails to meet cattle requirements during the dry season. Establishment, dry matter yield and nutritive value of leguminous herbage in the year of establishment were evaluated as well as regeneration of legumes after a cropping phase. Only a few species yielded more dry season herbage than the natural fallow, but most had considerably higher nitrogen concentrations (0.6–2.4% of dry matter) and in sacco dry matter digestibility (19–65%) than the natural fallow vegetation with 0.7–1.0% N and 28–30% DMD. In the mid dry season, Stylosanthes guianensis, Centrosema pubescens and Aeschynomene histrix had the highest yields of 10 t/ha DM of standing herbage plus shed leaves at one of the sites. The same species also showed good self-regeneration after a maize crop but were surpassed by other species with respect to nitrogen concentration and digestibility. The observed properties of the forage legumes are discussed with respect to their relative importance for the targeted fallow system, and management alternatives are considered.
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spelling CGSpace434662023-02-15T05:11:34Z Forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid West Africa. I. Establishment, herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage Muhr, L Tarawali, Shirley A. Peters, Michael Schultze-Kraft, Rainer animal feeding feed crops feed legumes fallow agropastoral systems plant establishment nutritive value leguminosas forrajeras barbecho sistemas agropascícolas establecimiento de plantas valor nutritivo A short-term improved fallow system based on forage legumes is suggested for crop-livestock farming systems in subhumid West Africa targeted to enhance soil fertility and dry season feed for cattle. At two sites, 13 legume species were compared with the natural fallow vegetation, the nutritive value of which typically fails to meet cattle requirements during the dry season. Establishment, dry matter yield and nutritive value of leguminous herbage in the year of establishment were evaluated as well as regeneration of legumes after a cropping phase. Only a few species yielded more dry season herbage than the natural fallow, but most had considerably higher nitrogen concentrations (0.6–2.4% of dry matter) and in sacco dry matter digestibility (19–65%) than the natural fallow vegetation with 0.7–1.0% N and 28–30% DMD. In the mid dry season, Stylosanthes guianensis, Centrosema pubescens and Aeschynomene histrix had the highest yields of 10 t/ha DM of standing herbage plus shed leaves at one of the sites. The same species also showed good self-regeneration after a maize crop but were surpassed by other species with respect to nitrogen concentration and digestibility. The observed properties of the forage legumes are discussed with respect to their relative importance for the targeted fallow system, and management alternatives are considered. 1999 2014-09-24T08:42:10Z 2014-09-24T08:42:10Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/43466 en Open Access
spellingShingle animal feeding
feed crops
feed legumes
fallow
agropastoral systems
plant establishment
nutritive value
leguminosas forrajeras
barbecho
sistemas agropascícolas
establecimiento de plantas
valor nutritivo
Muhr, L
Tarawali, Shirley A.
Peters, Michael
Schultze-Kraft, Rainer
Forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid West Africa. I. Establishment, herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage
title Forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid West Africa. I. Establishment, herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage
title_full Forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid West Africa. I. Establishment, herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage
title_fullStr Forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid West Africa. I. Establishment, herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage
title_full_unstemmed Forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid West Africa. I. Establishment, herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage
title_short Forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid West Africa. I. Establishment, herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage
title_sort forage legumes for improved fallows in agropastoral systems of subhumid west africa i establishment herbage yield and nutritive value of legumes as dry season forage
topic animal feeding
feed crops
feed legumes
fallow
agropastoral systems
plant establishment
nutritive value
leguminosas forrajeras
barbecho
sistemas agropascícolas
establecimiento de plantas
valor nutritivo
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/43466
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