ISHS Acta Horticulturae 728: V International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal
ASSESSMENT OF FORAGE CACTUS PEAR VARIETIES FOR SEMI-ARID CONDITIONS OF NORTHEAST, BRAZIL |
| Authors: | D. Cordreiro dos Santos, M.A. Lira, I. Farias, F.M. Dias, F.G. Silva |
| Keywords: | Opuntia, Nopalea, forage plant, roughage |
| Abstract:
Forage cactus is the most important roughage for dairy cows in the semi-arid regions of Pernambuco, Alagoas and Paraiba in Northeast of Brazil covering about 300,000 ha. This study was conducted at four locations; three in Pernambuco and one in Alagoas, with the purpose of identifying forage cactus varieties more productive than the conventional varieties. The experiment included six varieties: ‘Gigante’ (T1), ‘Redonda’ (T2), ‘Miuda’ (T3), ‘IPA-20’ clone (T4), ‘Copena F1’ (T5) and ‘Copena V1’ (T5), with four replications arranged in a complete randomized blocks design. The planting layout was 1.0 x 0.5 m, and 20 t/ha of cow manure were applied at planting. The plants were harvested two years after planting. Dry matter yield (t DMY ha-1) of ‘IPA-20’ clone in this first crop was superior to all varieties tested. Average DMY and their significance values were: T4 (21.36a), T1 (17.95b), T3 (17.42cb), T2 (17.06cb), T5 (15.11cb) and T6 (14.38c). On the other hand, the green matter yield (GMY) of IPA-20 clone was also greater than all other varieties evaluated, as follows: T4 (223.71a), T2 (211.14a), T1 (202.83a), T3 (169.21b), T5 (167.82b) and T6 (162.71b). | |
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