Influence of native pasture management in southern Brazil on dry mass production and forage protein content

Abstract

Grasslands in southern Brazil have inherent characteristics favorable to forage production for domestic herbivores, which can be impaired or enhanced by management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of management on plant characteristics, comparing commonly used techniques. The experimental design was bifactorial, the first factor consisting of four managements: burning, oversowing with annual winter forages, mowing and absence of interference, and the second factor was the time elapsed between management and evaluation. The experiment was conducted under field conditions, in a complete randomized block design with four replications. The LAI (leaf area index), dry mass production and crude protein content of the pasture were evaluated. Pasture management with oversowing showed higher LAI growth rate, as well as higher pasture dry mass production than the other treatments. There was no effect of the different managements on the crude protein content of the pasture, but of the time, with the highest value on the 53rd day. The results suggest that the adoption of management with oversowing of annual winter forages should be emphasized for the productive improvement of native grasslands in southern Brazil.