Adaptación de forrajeras en la región del Magdalena Medio, Colombia

The adaptation of the grasses Brachiaria dictyoneura CIAT 6133, B. humidicola CIAT 6369, B. decumbens CIAT 606, Andropogon gayanus CIAT 621, and Panicum maximum CIAT 6299, and the legumes Desmodium ovalifolium CIAT 3784 and 3788, D. heterocarpum CIAT 3787, Centrosema macrocarpum CIAT 5065 and 5713, C. acutifolium CIAT 5568 and 5277, and P. phaseoloides was evaluated in Barrancabermeja, located in the mid-Magdalena region of Santander, Colombia (tropical rainforest, 7 degrees 01 minutes N latitude, 73 degrees 48 minutes W longitude, 126 m.a.s.l., and 27.5 degrees C). The soil at the experiment site had a pH of 4.7, 4.1 ppm P, and 0.8, 0.52, 0.07, and 2.0 meq/100 g of Ca, Mg, K, and Al, respectively. Evaluations were conducted during plant establishment in 1990 at 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks, and during the periods of maximum (1490 mm between September and November) and minimum precipitation (152 mm between January and February) in 1992. The treatments (accessions and evaluation time) were arranged in a randomized block design in split plots, with four replicates. The results showed that the DM production of assessed grass and legume accessions was significantly affected by the dry season. The differences in production between evaluation times were over 50 percent indicating a marked seasonality in forage production that should be taken into account in future grazing trials in the region carried out with these accessions eng