Theme 02: Grass-Legume Mixtures
Description
It has been the aim, in the present article, to bring together as much as possible scientific evidence and experience in new available germplasm for tropical zones.
The economic importance of the Brachiaria, Paspalum and Pennisetum grasses is well established. New germplasm has become available since 1980. This paper reviews evaluations of Brachiaria accessions in humid lowlands and savannas of tropical America. The selection criteria need to be revised. Also, it is necessary to expose the new material as early as possible to farmers in order to select new germplasm with high chances of adoption.
Within the genus Paspalum, P. dilatatum is possibly the most widespread. It has made a considerable contribution in the past, providing some of the best early season feed. In this paper, new data on P. atratum will be presented.
Since 1985 a great effort had been made on Pennisetum. New cultivars are available.
The main legumes genera to be discussed are Arachis spp., Calopogonium mucunoides, Centrosema spp., Desmodium spp., Glycine spp., Macroptilium spp., Neonotonia wightii and Stylosanthes spp.
On Arachis, a historical perspective of the collection and evaluation in South America as well as a summary of the regional experience on Central America, Australia and United States would be presented. Some preliminary data on the drought tolerance and animal performance is discussed. For more than one hundred accessions evaluated through 1992 until 1997, twenty accessions of A. pintoi are outstanding and deserve further regional evaluation.
Calopogonium mucunoides, although not widely used (like any other pasture legume today in tropical America), is the most popular forage legume amongst farmers in Brazil. A collection of 215 accessions was evaluated in the Cerrado ecosystem. A negative relationship between the degree of pilosity and in vitro dry matter digestibility was found. Within the seventeen accessions selected, two of them, CIAT 822 and 20709 were outstanding for their leaf retention during the dry season.
Also, Macroptilium, Neonotonia and Stylosanthes, deserve special mention because attempts to develop cultivars from them have been determined and sustained.
Finally, there is also an opportunity to search for new alternatives within the new available collection of N. wightii. Three new accessions are promising.
Included in
Novel Grasses and Legumes Germplam: Advances and Perspectives for Tropical Zones
It has been the aim, in the present article, to bring together as much as possible scientific evidence and experience in new available germplasm for tropical zones.
The economic importance of the Brachiaria, Paspalum and Pennisetum grasses is well established. New germplasm has become available since 1980. This paper reviews evaluations of Brachiaria accessions in humid lowlands and savannas of tropical America. The selection criteria need to be revised. Also, it is necessary to expose the new material as early as possible to farmers in order to select new germplasm with high chances of adoption.
Within the genus Paspalum, P. dilatatum is possibly the most widespread. It has made a considerable contribution in the past, providing some of the best early season feed. In this paper, new data on P. atratum will be presented.
Since 1985 a great effort had been made on Pennisetum. New cultivars are available.
The main legumes genera to be discussed are Arachis spp., Calopogonium mucunoides, Centrosema spp., Desmodium spp., Glycine spp., Macroptilium spp., Neonotonia wightii and Stylosanthes spp.
On Arachis, a historical perspective of the collection and evaluation in South America as well as a summary of the regional experience on Central America, Australia and United States would be presented. Some preliminary data on the drought tolerance and animal performance is discussed. For more than one hundred accessions evaluated through 1992 until 1997, twenty accessions of A. pintoi are outstanding and deserve further regional evaluation.
Calopogonium mucunoides, although not widely used (like any other pasture legume today in tropical America), is the most popular forage legume amongst farmers in Brazil. A collection of 215 accessions was evaluated in the Cerrado ecosystem. A negative relationship between the degree of pilosity and in vitro dry matter digestibility was found. Within the seventeen accessions selected, two of them, CIAT 822 and 20709 were outstanding for their leaf retention during the dry season.
Also, Macroptilium, Neonotonia and Stylosanthes, deserve special mention because attempts to develop cultivars from them have been determined and sustained.
Finally, there is also an opportunity to search for new alternatives within the new available collection of N. wightii. Three new accessions are promising.
