Produtividade e valor nutritivo do Capim elefante cv. IRI-381 submetido a diferentes níveis de adubação nitrogenada e lotação animal.

Abstract

Pasture management depends on several factors, including the replacement of the nutrient and adopted stocking rate. Replacement of nutrients to the system will depend on soil conditions and nutritional requirements of the species and management must be carried through in accordance with the forage, animal and pasture conditions. This study evaluated elephant grass under grazing conditions and managed under different N fertilization and stocking rates. The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Station of the Agronomic Institute of Pernambuco (IPA) during two growing seasons. The objective was to evaluate the effect of three stocking rates (2, 3.9 and 5.8 AU / ha) and three nitrogen levels (0, 150 and 300 kg N / ha / year) on qualitative and quantitative response variables of elephant grass cv. IRI-381 pastures. The experimental design used was randomized blocks with split plots. Stocking rate was the main plot and N fertilization level the split-plot. The following quantitative variables were evaluated: pre-grazing herbage mass, botanical composition and soil cover. Qualitative variables determined included DM and OM samples collected from representative samples from each subplot. The N, P, K in plant tissues, as well as the „in vitro‟ dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) were determined from hand-plucked samples. Leaf area index (LAI), light interception (LI) and leaf angles (LA) were evaluated at pre- and post-grazing. Nitrogen fertilization at 300 kg N / ha at 2 AU / ha resulted in the highest values of herbage mass. Post-grazing LAI was affected by stocking rate, decreasing its value with increasing stocking rate over the course of two years of grazing. Plant height cannot be considered a good indicator to correlate with light interception on grazed elephant grass pastures due to low R2=0.0126. The increase in stocking rate provides a decrease in the presence of elephant grass in the botanical composition. Increasing N fertilization level results in higher plant tissue N concentration in hand-plucked samples. Nutritive value of elephant grass IRI - 381 suffered direct influence of nitrogen fertilization and different stocking rates, with higher levels of nutrients in the dosage of 300 kg N / ha and the lowest rate of 2 AU / ha, over time in grazing conditions in the „Zona da Mata‟ of Pernambuco.