*Article* **Leguminous Alley Cropping Improves the Production, Nutrition, and Yield of Forage Sorghum**

**Robson da Costa Leite 1,\*, José Geraldo Donizetti dos Santos 2, Rubson da Costa Leite 1, Luciano Fernandes Sousa 2, Guilherme Octávio de Sousa Soares 3, Luan Fernandes Rodrigues 2, Je** ff**erson Santana da Silva Carneiro 4 and Antonio Clementino dos Santos 2**


Received: 24 July 2019; Accepted: 9 October 2019; Published: 14 October 2019

**Abstract:** This study aimed to evaluate the growth, production, and leaf contents of macronutrients, as well as the yield of forage sorghum cultivated on the alleys of *Gliricidia* (*Gliricidia sepium* (Jacq.) Kunth ex Walp.) and *Leucaena* (*Leucaena leucocephala* (Lam.) de Wit) in the presence and absence of mineral fertilization. The experiment was conducted in two di fferent periods: During the 2016/2017 double crop (cultivation carried out at the end of the crop cycle) and during the 2017/2018 crop (cultivation carried out at the beginning of the crop cycle). A randomized block design, in which the first factor refers to cultivation systems (single sorghum, sorghum cultivated in *Gliricidia* alleys, and sorghum cultivated in *Leucaena* alleys) and the second factor refers to mineral fertilization (presence and absence of fertilization), in a 3 × 2 factorial arrangemen<sup>t</sup> was used. The leguminous plants were cut, and the residues were deposited in the alleys. The cultivation in alleys without mineral fertilization increased total forage biomass when compared to the single crop cultivation. Cultivation in *Leucaena* alleys showed a higher leaf content of nitrogen (N) when compared to the single crop, both in the presence and absence of mineral fertilization. In the double crop, sorghum cultivated in *Leucaena* alleys without fertilization presented a higher forage yield (up to 67%) when compared to the single crop system. However, there was no di fference in yield when mineral fertilization was applied to the treatments. Overall, the alley crops were able to increase the morphological (plant height (PH), stem diameter (SD), panicle diameter (PD), and panicle length (PL) and yield (leaf dry mass (LDM), stem dry mass (SDM), total green mass (TGM), and total dry mass TDM) variables of the crop, improving the productivity of forage sorghum.

**Keywords:** cultivation systems; *Gliricidia sepium*; leguminous plants; *Leucaena leucocephala*; mineral fertilization
