El grupo de investigación brasileño ha generado un importante trabajo sobre el uso de leguminosas forrajeras y sus efectos en la emisión de GEI
Abstract: Beef cattle producers seldom use fertilizers for their pastures in tropical regions of Brazil. Slowly, this is changing but because of the need for repeated applications, N fertilizer is rarely applied. The introduction of a forage legume is an appropriate solution for this problem, but until recently adoption has been very low as the legumes
generally have not persisted in the sward. We report research on how grazing management can affect the persistence of stoloniferous legumes in pastures of Brachiaria spp. and the problems of establishing and maintaining crown-forming legumes such as Stylosanthes spp. With suitable management, milk or bovine carcass yields can be equal or greater from mixed than from grass-alone pastures fertilized with 120 or 150 kg Nha-1 year−1. In addition to savings in CO2 emissions from fossil fuels for the production and distribution of N fertilizers, nitrous oxide emissions from cattle
excreta and legume residues are lower than those from N-fertilized brachiaria grass monocultures. Other studies indicate that enteric methane emissions from cattle may be mitigated when forage legumes are included in their diet. The use of forage legumes in mixed pastures for tropical regions is emerging as a feasible strategy to keep meat and milk production at acceptable levels with reduced greenhouse gas emission rates.
K E Y W O R D S
Arachis pintoi, Brachiaria spp., Desmodium heterocarpon, management targets, mixed pastures,
Stylosanthes spp.
How to cite this article: Boddey RM, Casagrande DR, Homem BGC, Alves BJR. Forage legumes in grass pastures in
tropical Brazil and likely impacts on greenhouse gas emissions: A review. Grass Forage Sci. 2020;00:1–15. https://
doi.org/10.1111/gfs.12498
