ANNUAL DOUBLE CROPS SYSTEM FOR FORAGE PRODUCTION IN MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE ENVIRONMENTS. A CASE OF BUFFALO BREEDING

Abstract

Buffalo livestock represents profitable economy and sustainable farming activity in the Mediterranean area. The main claim of dairy farming is requirement of forage for sustaining buffalo feeding, particularly during lactation time. In land of EU Mediterranean environments, feeding forage is provided by cultivation of annual double sown crops. The most popular cropping system (referred as model) is based on irrigated Italian ryegrass and corn. The continuous cultivations of model, indeed the favourable economic and technical advantages, promotes constrains of biochemical parameters in topsoil and fitness of buffalo popularity in environments. Furthermore, survey of challenge for enlarging the popularity of buffalo breeding in harsh Mediterranean land, has been determined by cultivation of double sown models under rainfed condition. Sowing time, irrigation treatment and crops of the model influenced the production of dry matter (DM) and milk forage unit (MFU). The production of MFU ha^-1 among models range from 3594 to 7438 in winter and 10256 to 15266 in spring under rainfed and 5042 to 9035 in winter and 11940 to 24003 in spring under irrigated. The total MFU ha^-1 of winter-spring models range from 16962 to 30815 under irrigated and 13951 to 18097 under rainfed. Three years of continuous growing models reduced the beginning content of organic matter (OM), in winter and spring sown grasses models, by 4.3 g kg^-1 under irrigated and 3.1g kg^-1 under rainfed while the models based on annual legumes the reduction was lower (2.2 and 1.4 g kg^-1, respectively). The experiments evidenced variability among models and singled out equipotent models able to satisfy the MFU, sustain biochemical soil parameters and allow opportunity to enlarge the fitness of buffalo in EU Mediterranean-type climate environments.