Browse from Three Tree Legumes Increases Forage Production for Cattle in a Silvopastoral System in the Southwest Amazon.
Name
animals-11-03585.pdf
Description
visibility:open
Size
3.83 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (CRC64NVME)
J6BS3UDqxlM=
Resource type
Journal article
Date published
December 17, 2021
Abstract
Assessing the palatability of forage from locally adapted trees could improve the sustainability of livestock production systems. However, grasses continue to dominate livestock feed across the Amazon. We established a silvopastoral cattle farming system in Peru, comparing three different forage tree species with grass monocultures using a randomised block design. Trees were arranged in alleys of 0.5 × 7.5 m, planted alongside grass, and were directly browsed by cattle. Browse removal was estimated by three methods: destructive sampling, canopy measurements and leaf counts. We found that all three tree species were palatable to cattle. Plots containing trees and grass produced more available forage (mean > 2.2 Mg ha−1) for cattle than the grass monocultures (mean = 1.5 Mg ha−1). Destructive sampling below 1.6 m demonstrated that cattle consumed 99% of the available Erythrina berteroana forage, 75% of the available Inga edulis forage and 80% of the available Leucaena leucocephala forage in 8 days. This research demonstrates methodologies to estimate the intake of locally adapted browse species by cattle and highlights the potential benefits of silvopastoral systems in the Amazon. Planting trees could also benefit animal health and provide ecosystem services such as soil regeneration, enhanced nutrient cycling and carbon capture.
Funder
| Funder name | Awards |
Natural Environment Research Council | NE/L002485/1 |
Bentham Moxon Trust | Grant number BMT4-2016. |
Amar-Franses & Foster-Jenkins Trust | |
Journal title
Animals
Volume
11
Issue
12
Article number
3585
Publisher
MDPI AG
Place of publication
Basel, Switzerland
eISSN
2076-2615
Date accepted
December 14, 2021
Official URL
Related URL
Rights statement
In Copyright
Additional information
This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Animal Feeds, Forage Crops, and Cultivation Strategies for Enhancing Livestock Nutrition and Ecosystem Services.