Tropical forage grasses intercropped with sorghum in a semi-arid region: establishment, silage quality and economic viability

The aim of this study was to evaluate the intercropping of sorghum with Brachiaria cultivars in a semi-arid region.The experiment had five treatments: sorghum in monoculture and intercropped with forage cultivars (Marandu,Paiaguás, Ipyporã or Dunamis), arranged in a randomised block design with four replicates. The cropping systeminfluenced forage mass (FM), with higher values observed in the intercropping systems. Intercropping withDunamis resulted in the highest FM (10 072.2 kg dry matter ha–1). The silages with the greatest effluent losses werethose produced from the monoculture and the cultivar Paiaguás (4.59% and 4.72%, respectively). Silage producedwith Dunamis had the highest crude protein content (5.09%). The use of Brachiaria cultivars had little impact onthe total cost, with increases of 5.39%, 4.19%, 7.20% and 8.89% for Marandu, Paiaguás, Ipyporã and Dunamis,respectively, compared to the monoculture. Only the silages from the intercropped systems with Paiaguás, Ipyporãand Dunamis had a positive profitability index. Therefore, intercropping of the sorghum cultivar BRS Ponta Negrawith Brachiaria cultivars is recommended, particularly with Dunamis, which showed higher production potential andbetter silage chemical quality. Intercropping enables the production of good-quality silage while diluting pastureestablishment costs in semi-arid regions.