Wednesday, November 7, 2007
308-2
Increase of Forage Availability by Using An Agricultural Conservation Approach in North Central Mexico.
Miguel Angel Martinez-Gamiņo and Cesario Jasso-Chaverria. CE SAN LUIS, INIFAP, TABOADA 427, SAN LEONEL, SAN LUIS POTOSI, 78387, Mexico
Conservation tillage has not successfully adopted by farmers in the north-central region of Mexico as in other Latin American Countries because of the use of crop residues to feed animals. As an alternative to this problem, a corn-oat rotation was established with the following objectives: i) to increase the quantity of forage available for animals and ii) to reduce production cost. Corn was sowed during the spring-summer growing season and oat during the fall. Seven tillage methods were evaluated: traditional plow and disk (B+R), with and without disturbing the upper 0-10 cm layer, and zero tillage with 0, 33, 66, and 100% soil cover with crop residues (CR). A randomized block design with two replicates was used. Corn stubble yield with zero tillage + 66% CR was increased 3.431 ton ha-1 compared to B+R, and oat for forage yield was statistical equal among all treatments. Adding corn stubble and oat forage yields, the total availability of forage per year was increased 25% with conservation tillage methods compared to conventional tillage. Conservation tillage reduced soil preparation costs by 50%. Conclusion of this study was that corn-oat for forage rotation system increased total forage availability, allowing farmers to keep at least 2 t ha-1 as soil cover.
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