Effect of planting patterns and age at harvest of two cultivars of Lablab purpureus in Andropogon gayanus on agronomic characteristic and quality of grass/legume mixtures

Research was conducted to investigate the contribution of two legume cultivars of lablab purpureus cv. highworth (early maturing) and lablab purpureus cv. rongai (late maturing) to total fodder productivity and nutritive value when intercropped with gamba grass (andropogon gayanus cv. kunth). there were nine treatments in all consisting of monocultures of grass,legumes and grass-legume mixtures in the ratios 1:1,1:2 and 1:3 for each cultivar. the total dry matter yield,relative yield (ry),land equivalent ratio (ler) and competitive ratio (cr) of the grass and legumes were estimated at 10 and 15 weeks after planting before flowering. overall total herbage yield of the mixtures was higher than those of grass. in all the mixtures,incorporation of l. purpureus cv. rongai in a. gayanus gave higher (p>0.05) cp than highworth. the mixture of a. gayanus with double rows of l. purpureus cv. rongai gave the highest (p<0.05) mineral contents while the least were recorded in sole a. gayanus. it was concluded that double rows of l. purpureus were recommended as the most compatible combination to improve the forage quantity and quality of a. gayanus. copyright © 2015. universiti putra malaysia press.