Amendoim forrageiro (Arachis pintoi cv. Amarillo) sob diferentes intensidades de pastejo por ovinos em ambiente rotativo

Abstract

An experiment was carried out at the Palma Agricultural Center in Capão do Leão, Brazil (31 52 'S and 52º 29' W) with the objective of verifying the productive behavior of perennial peanut (Arachis pintoi cv. Amarillo) under different grazing intensities by sheep in rotation environment. The treatments consisted of four grazing intensity levels (very lenient - VL, lenient - L, moderate – M and severe - S) represented by the residues 11.2; 8.4; 5.9 and 3.2 cm, they were allocated according to a completely randomized design with four replications. The variables studied in the pre-grazing and post-grazing were: forage mass, percentage of leaves and stems and leaf area index. At the end of the experiment were calculated the mass of total accumulated forage, accumulation rate, and mass missing forage. The data was submitted to a variance analysis and comparison to a Tukey’s test, with a 5% significance level. It was found that the grazing intensity modified the composition of the morphological components and the forage mass accumulated by peanut; however, the leaf area index in pre-grazing remained constant. Perennial peanut should not used under intensive grazing. Grazing intensity from moderate to very lenient provide greater mass of pre-grazing forage and total accumulated forage, combined with shorter intervals between grazing.