Influence of cutting times in the phytomass accumulation of foragees under irrigation and drought

Abstract

The irrigation of tropical pasture is considered an economic alternative for the milk and meat production. It is a desirable technique because it presents advantages such as the minimization of seasonality during the year, the cut interval being decisive for the production and quality of forage. The objective of this study was to verify the production of phytomass production of forage species, when planted under drought and irrigation conditions, during three cut times. The experiment was conducted on a property located at geographical coordinates S 15036´55´´ and WGr 58046´43´´ at an altitude of 207m. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design in a 5 x 3 factorial scheme with the following forages: Brizantha marandu (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu), Mombaça grass (Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça) cultivated under irrigation and drought conditions and tifton 85 (cynodon sp.), irrigated and cutting times 25, 50 and 75 days, with 5 replications. The experimental area of 5.5 ha-1, was divided into 25 paddocks of 0.22 ha-1,equally distributed among the 5 treatments. The production of Capim Mombaça (Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça) when cultivated with irrigation showed higher height and phytomass production when compared to the other forages evaluated. After the investigations it was evident that the height of the lawn and phytomass production was not influenced by the cutting season.