Indication
The MIX Cerradao is a combination of Brachiaria brizantha cv. MG13 Braúna with MG4 and Marandu in a one-third proportion for each material. The purpose of intercropping these cultivars is to combine superior individual characteristics of each one and obtain a pasture with higher forage production, better quality, improved distribution throughout the year, and greater ability to adapt to different climatic conditions and tolerance to pathogens.
Características
Urochloa brizantha cv. (MG13 Braúna + MG4 + Marandu)
Brachiaria brizantha cv. (MG13 Braúna + MG4 + Marandu)
Medium to high fertility
Direct grazing, hay, and silage
12 to 14 tons/ha/year of dry matter (DM)
9 to 12%
From 0.90 to 1.50m
59 to 60%
Good
Excellent
Good tolerance
Medium
Perennial
Use and Management
The MIX Cerradão is recommended for soils of medium to high fertility, for direct grazing, haymaking, or silage, for breeding, rearing, fattening, and milk production animals. It has good tolerance to drought and arid climates, due to the deep root development of its plants. Management of MIX Cerradão in rotational grazing areas should occur every 25 to 30 days or when the plant height reaches 60 to 80 cm during the hot and rainy season, and 45 to 50 days in winter (cold and dry), in both cases with 1 to 5 days of grazing. In continuous grazing, the grazing height should not be less than 15 to 20 cm.
Agronomic Characteristics
The consortium of cultivars MG13 Braúna, MG4, and Marandu resulted in a pasture with good adaptability, suitable for soils of medium to high fertility, and can be used in regions with drier climates and longer dry periods, as well as in areas with slopes or erosion issues. It has higher forage production, rapid regrowth, and better distribution of production throughout the year, thus presenting better nutritional quality: palatability, digestibility, and protein content. It shows better tolerance to pasture spittlebug attacks compared to using these materials individually.
Morphological Characteristics
The cultivars MG13 Braúna, MG4, and Marandu present similar characteristics in plant structure, with soft leaves and stems, medium size, and decumbent and prostrate tussocks. This aspect of physical similarity is important to hinder selective feeding by animals among the cultivars. However, they have different periods of growth, maturation, flowering, and seed production, as well as other physical characteristics such as root depth, regrowth capacity, tolerance to trampling, and pasture spittlebug. With the consortium of these three cultivars, it was possible to obtain a pasture with specific characteristics of each cultivar combined in the same material.