Intercropping rice with forage plants as a pathway for sustainable intensification and pasture recovery in tropical upland systems
Abstract
Management decisions regarding the choice of forage species and sowing timing may affect crop and pasture establishment and overall system efficiency. This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance, yield, and land-use efficiency of upland rice intercropped with Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu under sowing strategies in tropical conditions. Field experiments were conducted to assess rice yield, forage biomass production, and the efficiency of the intercropping system compared to monoculture. The treatments included forage sowing times in relation to the establishment of the rice crop. Indicators of sustainable intensification, including the land equivalent ratio (LER), resource-use efficiency, and system resilience, were also evaluated. Rice yields ranged from 2.4 to 3.3 Mg ha-¹ and were not reduced by intercropping, when compared with monocropping. The simultaneous forage sowing produced up to 6.8 Mg ha-¹ of forage dry matter, whereas delayed sowing at 45 days after emergence increased the rice yield and resulted in LER values above 2.0. The integration strategy improved the land-use efficiency and contributed to pasture recovery, supporting intercropping agricultural systems.
KEYWORDS: Urochloa brizantha, crop-livestock integration, forage grass establishment, rice-forage intercropping.
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