Performance of beef cattle in integrated agricultural production systems with marandu grass and cassava

Abstract

An experimental test was carried out to evaluate the stocking rate in animal units per hectare (AU ha-1), average daily gain (ADG) and weight gain per area of beef cattle, in the summer and winter periods, in the following treatments: perennial marandu grass pasture; SIPA - cassava in conventional cultivation or no-tillage, followed by two years of pasture; and cassava in conventional cultivation or no-tillage, followed by four years of pasture. A randomized block design with 4 replications and 4 test animals per treatment was used. Over the seven seasons evaluated, the average stocking rate obtained in the summer period did not differ between the perennial pasture and SIPA areas (8.16 vs. 7.63 AU ha-1) (P>0.05), but in winter it was significantly higher on perennial pasture (3.00 vs. 2.37 AU ha-1) (P<0.05). The ADG of animals on perennial marandu grass pasture was 0.624 kg in summer and 0.387 kg in winter. In SIPA, gains were 0.561 and 0.390 kg in summer and winter, respectively. In perennial pasture, body weight gain (BWG) per area was 1,156 kg ha-1 in summer and 170 kg ha-1 in winter. In SIPA, the GPC was 911 and 122 kg ha-1, respectively, in summer and winter. These gains allowed a significantly higher production of carcass arrobas on perennial pasture compared to SIPA (38.50 vs. 30.40 @ ha-1) (P<0.01) in the summer period. In winter this production did not differ between SIPA and perennial pasture (5.68 vs. 4.46 @ ha-1) (P>0.05). The SIPA with cassava are viable alternatives for the production of beef cattle, allowing animal performance similar to the system with perennial marandu grass pasture.