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Agronomy
Volume 11
Issue 1
10.3390/agronomy11010121
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Article

Forage Potential of Cereal/Legume Intercrops: Agronomic Performances, Yield, Quality Forage and LER in Two Harvesting Times in a Mediterranean Environment

by
Monica Bacchi
,
Michele Monti
,
Antonio Calvi
,
Emilio Lo Presti
,
Antonio Pellicanò
and
Giovanni Preiti
*
Department AGRARIA, University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria, Feo di Vito, 89122 Reggio Calabria, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agronomy 2021, 11(1), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010121
Submission received: 20 November 2020 / Revised: 5 January 2021 / Accepted: 7 January 2021 / Published: 10 January 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Farming Sustainability)
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Abstract

The crop yield and quality of seven annual forages (four grasses and three legumes) in sole crop and in mixtures (ratio 50:50) for oat (Avena sativa L.), Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) and common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) were evaluated in a two-year field experiment adopting two harvesting times, green fodder and silage. The main bio-agronomic traits, dry matter forage yield (DMY) and quantity of crude protein (CP) were determined in both sole crop and intercrop. The land equivalent ratio (LER) was used for evaluating biological efficiency and competitive ability of the intercrops. Our results showed that the total calculated LER for fodder and protein yields was always greater than one and corresponded to crop yield advantages of 16.0% and 11.5%, respectively. Our data also highlighted the low competitive ability of the ryegrass in intercrop, which achieved the lowest yield among all the mixtures. Conversely, the same grass showed the best green fodder quality, due to the high incidence of the legume, equal (on average) to 46%. Triticale and barley, harvested for silage (hard dough stage), provided the best quantitative and qualitative results both in sole crop and intercropped with common vetch and pea, determined mainly by the cereal grain.
Keywords: green fodder; silage fodder; forage; intercropping; land equivalent ratio (LER); oat; triticale; barley; Italian ryegrass; pea; berseem clover; common vetch green fodder; silage fodder; forage; intercropping; land equivalent ratio (LER); oat; triticale; barley; Italian ryegrass; pea; berseem clover; common vetch

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MDPI and ACS Style

Bacchi, M.; Monti, M.; Calvi, A.; Lo Presti, E.; Pellicanò, A.; Preiti, G. Forage Potential of Cereal/Legume Intercrops: Agronomic Performances, Yield, Quality Forage and LER in Two Harvesting Times in a Mediterranean Environment. Agronomy 2021, 11, 121. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010121

AMA Style

Bacchi M, Monti M, Calvi A, Lo Presti E, Pellicanò A, Preiti G. Forage Potential of Cereal/Legume Intercrops: Agronomic Performances, Yield, Quality Forage and LER in Two Harvesting Times in a Mediterranean Environment. Agronomy. 2021; 11(1):121. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010121

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bacchi, Monica, Michele Monti, Antonio Calvi, Emilio Lo Presti, Antonio Pellicanò, and Giovanni Preiti. 2021. "Forage Potential of Cereal/Legume Intercrops: Agronomic Performances, Yield, Quality Forage and LER in Two Harvesting Times in a Mediterranean Environment" Agronomy 11, no. 1: 121. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010121

APA Style

Bacchi, M., Monti, M., Calvi, A., Lo Presti, E., Pellicanò, A., & Preiti, G. (2021). Forage Potential of Cereal/Legume Intercrops: Agronomic Performances, Yield, Quality Forage and LER in Two Harvesting Times in a Mediterranean Environment. Agronomy, 11(1), 121. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010121

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