Screening of Different Grasses and Legumes under Subabul (Leucaena leucocephala) based Silvipasture System in Drylands

Abstract

The field experiment was carried out at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bijapur, during 2008 to 2010 to evaluate performance of four grasses and three legumes grown in association with subabul (Leucaena leucocephala) in shallow vertisols of northern dry zone of Karnataka. Among the grass species Guinea grass var. Samruddhi recorded maximum plant height (112.33 cm during 2008-09 and 107.47 cm during 2009-10) and green fodder yield (22.40 Mt ha-1 during 2008-09 and 29.80 Mt ha-1 during 2009-10) followed by Guinea grass var. Nandini, Rhodes grass and Anjan grass. Among the legumes, Stylosanthus ciabrana showed higher yield (9.70 Mt ha-1and 12.30 Mt ha-1) and plants per m2 (33.83 and 34.28), but more height was recorded in Stylosanthus scabra (62.30 cm and 63.69 cm during 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively) at a light intensity ratio of 72.10% and 69.58%, respectively. No significant differences were observed for different silvicultural parameters. However, the economic analysis in terms of gross returns exhibited similar trends in line with the performance of different forage components. Key words: Grasses, legumes, subabul, green fodder yield, silvipasture, drylands.