Abstract 386

Mineral nutrition of tropical legumes. III. Concentration and accumulation of macronutrients and in vivo determination of the digestibility coefficient of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit cv. Peru in relation to time.

Silva,-DH; Haag,-HP

Departamento de Quimica, Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz", 13.400 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.

Anais-da-Escola-Superior-de-Agricultura-"Luiz-de-Queiroz". 1982, 39: 1, 505-538; 31 ref.

In 1-year field trials at Piracicaba, the growth, concn. and uptake of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S and in vivo DM digestibility of leaves was investigated in relation to plant age in L. leucocephala cv. Peru. DM production was highest (2.3 kg/plant) at 360 days after germination. The largest increase in leaf DM occurred between 240 and 360 days. N and P concn. in leaves and stems decreased with increase in age, but Ca concn. was unaffected by age. Major minerals were accumulated in the order: N > K > Ca > Mg > S > P. DM digestibility of leaves was 51.05% at 360 days.

This abstract relates to the following species:

Leucaena leucocephala