FORAGE CROPS

Prepared by:
RAMIL B. ENTANA JR.
FODDER TREES
IPIL – IPIL (Leucaena leucephala)
• Ipil-ipil ( Leucaena leucephala) is a widely
grown tree legume in the Philippine
archipelago. It is commonly used as live
fence in farms, as source of firewood, as
source of fodder for livestock, source of
fertilizer to the cash crop.
• Ipil-ipil’s high digestibility, high crude protein
content as well as high phosphorus and
calcium contents, it is an ideal feed for
ruminants. However, ipil-ipil is also known to
contain an alkaloid, mimosine, which causes
Climatic Requirement:
• Ipil-ipil grows in areas where the
mean annual temperature
ranges from 18-30◦c, and the
mean annual rainfall is 600-3,500
mm, with 0-4 months dry period
Seed Rate and Sowing:
• The seeds of Leucaena leucocephala was
reddish brown. There are different sizes of
seeds. Average dry weight of each seeds was
found 0.059±0.002 gm. (17000 seeds kg¯¹).
The average length, breadth, thickness were
0.83±0.03, 0.55±0.14 and 0.169±0.04 cm,
respectively.
• Germination initiated after 5 days in polybag.
Seven days in seed bed and 6 fays in plastic
trays under different media and container up
to 45.47 and 41 days, respectively. The
sowing period of L. luecocephala was March
to April.
Manures and fertilizers used:
• Ipil-ipil tree prefers slightly acid, fertile soils
but is tolerant of leached soils.
• The plant is self-fertile thus fertilization is not
highly recommended. It flowers and fruits over
an extended season and set prodigious
quantities of seed from early age.
• This species has a symbiotic relationship with
certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form
nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric
nitrogen. Some nitrogen is utilized by the
growing plant but some can also be used by
other plants growing nearby.
Irrigation:
• Leucaena leucephala plants should be
irrigated at 0.75 a and 1.25 b of the actual
evapotranspiration rates (AET) for 21
weeks.
Weed Control:
• A. Physical control:
• Hand-pull small individual plants.
• Remove roots to prevent regrowth.
• Take care to ensure your own and others safety
when trimming or lopping leucaena near power
lines.
• B. Herbicide control
• Application of herbicides to cut the surface of
stumps,
• Smearing of an herbicide (glyphosate) either on
the cut surface of the stumps or on girdled area of
trunks did not inhibit sprouting.
Harvesting:
• Leucaena foliage was being harvested for
fodder which was being taken away from
the production sites four times each year
over a period of 41 months. Labor spent
for harvesting, hauling and air-drying
ipil-ipil leaves harvested at a fixed cutting
height and cutting frequency but different
degrees of leaf removal.
Yield:
• Average yield ranges from 3 to 30 tonnes dry
matter (DM) per ha/year depending on soil,
temperature and moisture conditions. For
optional yields, harvest intervals can vary from
6-8 weeks in every production sites; to 12
weeks in less productive ones. Leucaena may
be lightly grazed in the first year after seedling
and heavily grazed thereafter. Crude protein
yield of ipil-ipil (L. latisiliqua) harvested at
fixed cutting height and cutting frequency but
with different intensities of leaf removal.
Conservation or Preservation Method:
• Ipil-ipil leaves can be incorporated to low
DM content grasses in ensiling to
improved palatability. Since Ipil-ipil does
not only improved forage quality but also
enhanced palatability (Bashir et.al 2015)
Grass
Signal grass (Urochloa decumbens)
Origin:
▪ From the open grasslands on the Great Lakes
plateau in Uganda and the surrounding
countries.
Description:
▪ A low to medium height (30-45cm), slowly
creeping grass (stoloniferous) that can form a
dense sward under ideal growing conditions.
▪ Stems are hairy with leaves 8-10mm wide and
often of light-green color.
▪ The seed head is arranged like a railway signal
with 2-5 racemes (2-5 cm) long.
Climatic Requirement
• Warm season grass and stop growing as
the temperature cools down in late
summer and has negligible growth over
rainy and cold season. It is moderately
tolerant to drought.
Seed rate and sowing
• Signal grass has a comparatively large
seed (220000/kg), so it usually establishes
readily. Typically sown at 2-kkg/ha, when
sown alone and at a depth of 5-10mm it
can achieve full groundcover within three
(3) months.
Manures and Fertilizers:
• Will persist on low fertile soils but requires
fertile conditions (high P and N) for good
production.
• Application of synthetic Nitrogen fertilizers
(such as urea and ammonium nitrate) is
recommended at a maximum of 350
kg/ha/yr.
• Application of nitrogenous animal manure
is also recommended.
Irrigation:
• The estimated minimum water for signal
grass >500mm.
• Rainfall irrigation is 1,500-3,00 mm/year,
including areas with a dry season of 5-6
months.
Weed Control:
• Low weed potential in undistributed natural
communities but has become a weed in
distributed areas. Can be a weed of certain
grass field and seed crops and pastures
grazed.
Harvesting:
• Graze lightly within 6 months of
planting to encourage early plant
development.
• Very tolerant of cutting and grazing by
cattle once established and may
dominate under set-stocking at high
stocking rates.
• Rotational grazing is mostly used for
dairy production as its standard
Yield:
• Signal grass is a high yielding species,
particularly if N fertilizer is provided. Up to
30 T DM/ha can be obtained on fertile
soils.
• The average yield is, however, generally
lower at about 10 T DM/ha.
Conservation Method:
• Can be conserved either ass hay or silage or
artificial dehydration for feeding to livestock
during lean periods when availability of fresh
forage is meager or negligible (during
mid-October, mid December and mid
April-June.
Legumes
Butterfly pea (Centrosema pubecens)
Origin:
▪ It originated and a native to Central and South
America and cultivated in other tropical areas as
forage for livestock.
Description/Background:
▪ A perennial herb that can reach a height of 45 cm
(17.5 in). The root system can reach up to 30 cm
in depth, associated with Rhizobium and other
nitrogen fixing bacteria.
▪ Stems can grow and branch rapidly, producing a
dense mass of branches and leaves. Stems does
not become woody until about 18 months after
planting.
Climatic Requirement:
• It is best grown at wet and humid soils.
• Well adapted to tropical conditions and
altitudes below 600m from sea level.
• Unable to tolerate cold temperatures but
very tolerant to drought.
Seed rate and sowing:
• Seeds are spherical, about 4mm (0.16 inches) in
diameter, dark brown when ripe.
• Very low soil requirements.
• Centro is planted directly into the ground or broadcast
over a field before rainy seasons.
• The seed of centro have a mechanical dormancy that
has to be broken by soaking the seeds for 3-5 minutes in
water at 85oC.
• After the seeds have passed the dormancy breaking
treatment, they can be inoculated with Rhizobium and
planted with no-till planter.
• A typical seed planting depth is 2.5-5cm.
• Seed rate is 4-6kg per hectare when seed is broadcast
or 1-2kg of seed per hectare when intercropped with
Manures and Fertilizers:
• Centro will produce optimal yields in fertile
soils containing calcium, phosphorus,
molybdenum, potassium and copper; but
will still give yields if the soil is lacking in
these nutrients.
• Increase yields of forage when the soil pH
is elevated to 6 and after addition of
30-60kg per hectare of phosphorus.
Irrigation:
• Centro has versatile rainfall and irrigation
requirements with its optimal range
between 1500-1700mm, but can still
grown with a minimum of 800mm and is
able to withstand 3-4 month of dry periods.
Weed Control:
• It naturally suppresses weeds by creating
a dense ground cover and is fairly good at
spreading naturally to cover large surface
area.
Harvesting
• Centro has persisted for decades as
plantation cover or in well-managed
grazed associations with grasses, but it
has not been very stable in cut-and-carry
systems.
Yield:
• Biomass production of cover crops is
rarely measured. Pure stands of centro
have produced annual dry matter yields of
up to 12 t/ha.
• In mixed pastures is more likely to be
about 3-4 t/ha per year.
Conservation Method:
• Centro is usually consumed fresh but it
can ensiled or dried for hay or pellets.
Thank You…