DINÂMICA DA FERMENTAÇÃO DE SILAGENS MISTAS DE MILHO E FEIJÃO GUANDU

Abstract

Tropical legumes have been used to make mixed silages for the nutritional enrichment of silages. In this context, the inclusion of appropriate levels of pigeonpea in mixed corn silages can increase the nutritive value without compromising the fermentative profile of the silage. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate the fermentative profile of corn silage combined with increasing levels of pigeonpea. The experimental design used was completely randomized, with four replications. The treatments consisted of corn silage with six levels of pigeonpea (0; 20; 40; 60, 80 and 100%), totaling 24 experimental silos. The maize hybrid used was the B 2800 PWU (early cycle and high grain yield potential) and the pigeonpea was the Cajanus cajan cv. BRS Mandarin. For ensilage, corn was harvested when it reached 335.7 g kg-1 DM (dry matter) and pigeonpea in the 100-day development cycle, with 281.3 g kg-¹ DM. The results showed that adding up to 60% of pigeonpea to corn silage does not compromise the fermentative profile of the silage. Exclusive pigeonpea silage presents fermentative losses that compromise the quality of the silage. Therefore, mixed corn and pigeon pea silages, combined with adequate levels of addition, becomes a promising alternative in relation to exclusive silage.