Utilizating Estilosantes Campo Grande for the Restoration and Enrichment of Degraded Natural Pastures of the Pantanal
Keywords:
Adaptive management, consortium, Mesosetum chaseae, natural pasture, nutritive valueAbstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the consortium of the native grass
Mesosetum chaseae with estilosantes Campo Grande (ECG) in Sandy areas with degrade
pastures in the Pantanal. The experiment was conducted in the Nhecolândia, Pantanal, MS,
in open grasslands with evident signs of degradation. The design was completely randomized
with three replicates. M. chaseae cultivation was done by seedlings and ECG by seeds at
the beginning of the rains in November 2014. The nutritive value of pasture was evaluated at
the end of the rainy season and it was verified pasture enrichment with introduction of ECG.
The mean crude protein content (%) and NDT (%) for M. chaseae an ECG were 10.9 and
57.2 and 5.3 and 52.3, respectively. Vegetal cover increased from 75% to almost 100% in
the second year, highlighting some native forage species of the natural bank and problems in
establishing ECG, probably due to flooding in the area, recognizing the importance of adaptive
management.
