Morfologia e resistência à moagem de perfilhos dos capins Marandu, Mavuno, Mulato II e Ipyporã submetidos ao diferimento

Abstract

Deferring pasture is a simple, low-cost strategy, compared to silage and haymaking, which allows for the availability of pasture for the animals during the dry season of the year. However, in order to have positive results with the deferral, the choice of forage plant is extremely important. Thus, an experiment was conducted at the Setor de Forragicultura of the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, in Uberlândia, MG, from September 2019 to July 2020. The objective was to evaluate the resistance to grinding and the morphological composition of reproductive and vegetative tillers of Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu and three hybrids of Urochloa (grass mulatto II, mavuno and ipyporã) deferred for 90 days. The mulatto grass II had a greater number of total tillers compared to the other grasses. Ipyporã grass showed the highest percentage of reproductive tiller at the end of the deferral. Only Ipyporã grass had a higher percentage of live stem in the reproductive tiller, when compared to the vegetative one. Milling strength did not vary between grasses and between tiller classes. Mulato II, marandu and mavuno grasses, when were deferred, generally have a similar morphological composition. Ipyporã grass, on the other hand, has high flowering during the deferral period, not being interesting for it.