Production of forage winter annual plant densities under

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the forage dry matter (FDM), leaf dry mass (LDM) and stem (SDM), leaf/stem ratio (L/S), leaf area index (LAI), height of cut (HC) and their correlations in winter forage at different densities. The experiment was conducted at the Universidade Estadual do Centro Oeste in Guarapuava - PR in 2012. The treatments were: 100% oats, 100% ryegrass, 50% oats and 50% ryegrass, 25% oats and 75% ryegrass, 75% oats and 25% ryegrass and 60% oats and 40% ryegrass. The experimental design was randomized blocks with five replications. There was a significant difference by Tukey test for LDM, where the density of 100% ryegrass produced 2477 kg ha-1, the L/S was 4.27 and the HC was 30.80 cm. For the other parameters showed no statistical difference. Correlations were significant by t test for LDM vs L/S (r = 0.86), LDM vs LAI (r = 0.89) and L/S vs HC(r = -0.88). The cultivation of ryegrass has its own advantages over cultivation intercropped with oats by offering greater LDM and especially the L/C be greater, besides being the first forage available for use with 68 DAS.