Tropical grasses available for agropastoral systems, with high function in supplying organic matter into soil
Country
Brazil
Description
[Synopsis]
Root biomass of five tropical grasses was compared as the function in supplying organic matter into soil of Brazilian savanna (Oxisol). Pastures of the five grasses, Brachiaria decumbens (BD), B. brizantha (BB), Panicum maximum cv.Tanzania (TA), P. maximum cv.Tobiata (TO), and Andropogon gayanus (AN),were established, and grazed for three years. Then the root biomass was measured in 0-10, 10-20, and 20-40cm of soil layers. Measured root biomass represented 53-76% of total biomass of the five grasses. Among the five grasses, root biomass level per square meter was in the order of BB>BD>TA>TO>AN, with the root biomass of BB significantly higher than those of the other grasses. Root biomass decreased quickly with the increase of soil depth, whereas the percentage of root biomass to dry soil of BB was highest among the five grasses in all of the soil layers. It is concluded that BB is the best option to introduce in crop-pasture rotation for soil quality improvement.
- Affiliation
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Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences Animal Production and Grassland Division
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Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
- Classification
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Technical A
- Term of research
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FY1997-1999 (-2001)
- Responsible researcher
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KANNO Tsutomu ( Animal Production and Grassland Division )
MACEDO Manuel. C. M. ( Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation )
EUCLIDES Valeria P.B. ( Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation )
- ほか
- Japanese PDF
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1999_09_A3_ja.pdf492.06 KB