Resumen

CAMACARO, Selina; BAUTE, Noriulis  y  MACHADO, Wilfre. Effect of cutting and grazing on biomass production of Giricidia sepìum. Zootecnia Trop. [online]. 2003, vol.21, n.4, pp.399-412. ISSN 0798-7269.

Summary It was carried out an experiment to evaluate the effect of cutting and grazing on the biomass production of Gliricidia sepium. Gliricidia sepium was sowed in a paddock covering 25% with a density of 3.333 plants/ha. The location has an annual precipitation mean of 942 mm, and a mean temperature of 25.5ºC. A complete random design was used with thirty repetitions by treatment and four treatments: T1: grazing + cutting after each grazing, T2: grazing + cutting after each two grazing, T3: grazing + cutting after each three grazing, and T4: grazing + cutting when the plant reaches a height of 160 cm. The paddock was grazed by female growing cattle, Holstein , every three months. Previous to each grazing was carried out a destructive and a non destructive sampling. Differences (P<0.05) were found in biomass production of leaves, biomass production of branches with Ø<8 mm, and biomass production of branches with Ø>8 mm. The most unfavorable treatment from the point of view of biomass production was the treatment 1, while treatment 4 obtained the highest production. A higher mortality of plants was observed in treatment 1. In terms of accumulation of edible and no edible biomass, and persistence of the plants, treatments 2 and 3 were better than 1 and 4. It is recommended, for crop management under similar conditions, to use cutting frequencies every two or three grazing periods, considering of vital importance the behavior of the precipitation and its direct effect on the crop.

Palabras clave : Gliricidia sepium; Cutting,; Grazing; Biomass production..