Morphological, productive, and nutritional characterization of Desmanthus spp. accessions under different cutting intensities

Rangeland legume species from the Brazilian Caatinga play a key role as feed resources for livestock and are an alternative in the agroforestry systems. This study evaluated the effect of two cutting intensities (40 and 80 cm) on morphological, productive, and qualitative characteristics of four (5G, 6G, 7G, and AS) accessions of Desmanthus spp. The experiment was established considering a completely randomized design with subdivided plots and six replicates at the Sugarcane Experimental Station, Carpina/UFRPE. Every 70 days, the variables fruiting, pod production, number of leaves, number of branches, leaves per branch, leaves per plant, and branch diameter were evaluated. The leaf/branch ratio, dry matter yield (DMY), chemical composition, and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) were determined. There was no interaction ( p ≥ 0.05) between the cutting intensities and evalutaed accessions for the morphological and nutritional variables. The effect of accessions on stem diameter, number of leaves per branch and per plant, leaf/branch ratio, and IVDMD was significant. The AS accession had the greatest values of plant DMY and branch DMY (1.85 and 1.27 ton DM ha −1 ), respectively, under the harvest intensity of 40 cm. The 7G accession, however, had greatest DMY when harvested at 80 cm, producing 1.52 and 1.00 ton DM ha −1 for total DMY and branch DMY, respectively. The Desmanthus spp. accessions evaluated in this study varied in their morphological, productive, and nutritional characteristics.