 | Abstract 31Grass-legume associations in the tropics. Results of trials in wet and dry areas.Touvin,-H INRA-Centre Antilles-Guyane, Station d'Amelioration des Plantes, 97184 Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe. Paturages et alimentation des ruminants en zone tropicale humide. 1989, 333-348; 10 ref., presented at 1st symposium on ruminant nutrition in tropical conditions, Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, 2-6 June 1987. Paris, France; INRA. Mixtures of Macroptilium atropurpureum with Panicum maximum, Pennisetum purpureum and Setaria sphacelata were compared in the humid region (2800 mm annual precipitation) of Guadeloupe in 1983-84. S. sphacelata aged more slowly than the other grasses with a growth rhythm closest to M. atropurpureum. This resulted in a better balance in the mixture, with 30% M. atropurpureum compared with only 17% legume in the other grass/legume mixtures. Grass/legume mixtures had a higher cumulative yield, digestibility and N yield than pure grass swards. In the dry region (1300 mm annual precipitation), M. atropurpureum was grown in mixture with Cenchrus ciliaris and P. purpureum. The legume mixtures had higher yields and forage quality than pure grass stands but the proportion of legume in the sward was low at 12.7-16.6%. This abstract relates to the following species:
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