Scientia Agropecuaria 8(2): 127– 135 (2017) a. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias Scientia Agropecuaria Universidad Nacional de Website: http://revistas.unitru.edu.pe/index.php/scientiaagrop Trujillo Forage maize nutritional quality according to organic and inorganic fertilization Alejandro Moreno-Reséndez1, 2, 3, *; Jesús Enrique Cantú Brito1; José Luis Reyes-Carrillo1, 2, 3; Viridiana Contreras-Villarreal1 1 Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Unidad Laguna. Periférico Raúl López Sánchez km 1.5, Carretera a Santa Fe s/n., C.P. 27059, Torreón, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico. 2 Integrantes del Cuerpo Académico Sistemas Sustentables para la Producción Agropecuaria (CASISUPA), Clave: UAAAN-CA-14, Torreón, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico 3 Integrantes de la Red Académica de Innovación en Alimentos y Agricultura Sustentable (RAIAAS) auspiciada por el Consejo Estatal de Ciencia y Tecnología del Estado de Coahuila de Zaragoza y la Comunidad de Instituciones de Educación Superior de la Laguna (COECYT-CIESLAG), Torreón, Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico. Received February 10, 2017. Accepted June 16, 2017. Abstract The research was conducted on a commercial land plot from the ejido Granada, municipality of Matamoros, Coahuila, situated inside the Comarca Lagunera, from April to August 2015, in order to establish the effect of two fertilization sources – organic and inorganic, upon the nutritional quality of forage maize during the spring-summer cycle with a randomized block experimental design. T1= Acadian soil +Acadian foliage (marine algae extracts) and T2= Regional control, with 16 replications. The evaluated variables were the nutritional quality of forage maize and the milk production (L•t-1 dry matter and L•ha-1). Due to the effect of the evaluated treatments, statistical differences were registered, both for, nutritional values of forage maize, such as: neutral and acid detergent fiber, non-fiber carbohydrates, total digestible nutrients, total net energy for lactation and for milk production, in favor of organic fertilization. Therefore, it can be concluded that fertilizers of marine origin applied to forage maize increased both nutritional quality of forage maize and milk yield per ton of dry matter and per hectare of this forage. Keywords: Crude protein; forage; milk yield; organic fertilizers. 1. Introduction region, it has been necessary to establish The Comarca Lagunera region has been large acreages for these forages, especially considered through the time as one of the for maize and sorghum. In this matter, most important dairy basins from Mexico statistics indicate that approximately (Pedroza-Sandoval et al., 2014), this 27,486 ha of forage maize were sown in production is mainly based upon the the Comarca Lagunera, from which 12,923 intensive growth of high quality forage as ha corresponded to the Laguna from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), maize (Zea Coahuila and 14,563 ha to the Laguna of mays L.) and forage sorghum (Sorghum Durango (SIAP-SAGARPA, 2014). spp.), during spring and summer, and oats The farming of maize for forage (Avena spp.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production constitutes a fast way of and triticale (Triticosecale spp.) during obtaining high dry matter production rates winter (Zamora-Villa et al., 2016) from and an ideal quality for cattle feeding when which the raw materials used to elaborate it is administered either as fresh forage or the cattle´s feed are obtained. In order to as silage (Boschini and Amador, 2001; satisfy the growing demand of forage and Iqbal et al., 2015). Furthermore, this being able to feed the dairy cattle of this forage, while fresh, has a 7.2 to 8.5% of --------- * Corresponding author © 2017 All rights reserved. E-mail: [email protected] (A. Moreno-Reséndez). DOI: 10.17268/sci.agropecu.2017.02.05 - 127 - A. Moreno-Reséndez et al. / Scientia Agropecuaria 8(2) 127 – 135 (2017) protein, from 32.5 to 33.5% of crude fiber, materials (Ramos-Agüero and Terry- from 1 to 2.5% of fat, besides containing Alfonso, 2014). One of the alternatives that high quantities of carbohydrates, it has the has the interest of both researchers and potential of providing an energy rich agronomic producers is the extract from material for cattle feeding and of being sea algae, being one of the reasons that used at all levels of production without these grow fast, produce a great biomass damages derived from oxalic acid or volume and are a source of many hydrocyanic acid (prussic), as is the case substances with biologic activity (Bettiol, with sorghum (Dahmardeh, 2011). 2006) and in this way, Zermeño-González Plant nutrition is one of the fundamental et al. (2015) highlighted that the use of sea factors affecting crop production and it algae extracts as biofertilizers to the soil plays an essential role in guaranteeing the and foliage increases the performance and right performance of forages. In fact, plant quality of different crops, this is related to nutrition management is one of the main the photosynthesis rate of the plants. Also, strategies for increasing crop yield and it has been put into view that these extracts forage maize is not the exception. In the contains nutritious macro and micro nutrition process, nitrogen and phosphorus elements, organic compounds such as have great relevance because they are the auxin and gibberellins that favor plant nutritious elements with the highest growth besides increasing crop yield and transcendence in yield as well as in the plant vigour against adverse environmental quality attributes of green forage (Iqbal et effects (Arun et al., 2014; Aymen et al., al., 2015). 2014), for these reasons, these On the nutritional aspect, Fortis-Hernández biofertilizers, applied to the soil or foliage, et al. (2009) highlighted that high quality could be used with the purpose of forage production, without the use of replacing, totally or partially, conventional synthetic fertilizers, is a necessity in fertilizers (Hernández-Herrera et al., regions where there is a marked limitation 2014). Because of the above mentioned, of natural resources. Also, it is highly the effect of liquid organic sea originated recognized that, because of the increment fertilizers, Acadian Soil and Acadian of anthropogenic activities, all ecosystems Foliage (Stimplex®), upon nutritional have been impacted by the release of value of forage maize during spring- polluting agents such as heavy metals, summer 2015 cycle was evaluated. pathogens, pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, modification of natural 2. Materials and methods conditions, situation that gets reflected upon human health (García-Gutiérrez and The experimental place, with an extension Rodríguez-Meza, 2012). Due to these of 22 ha, known as the “Tablas de Solima”, constraints, together with the constant is located inside de Comarca Lagunera increment of inorganic fertilizer prices, on (101° 41' and 104° 61' W, and 24° 59' and the last few years, rethinking the situation 26° 53' N, with 1100 m average altitude, and the search for alternatives to diminish its climate is dry, desert-like, the annual the use of synthesis soluble fertilizers has mean precipitation is 258 mm, and annual been motivated (Contreras et al., 2014). mean temperature is 21 °C (García, 1973), A recent alternative to the use of synthetic at approximately 5 km from the “La fertilizers has been the application of Partida-Granada” road, municipality of diverse organic fertilizers that contain a Matamoros, Coahuila. part of N in organic forms, more or less The research was carried out in April – stable, which gets mineralized on a gradual August 2015 period. The surface, whose way and become available for the growing previous crop, in summer, was maize, was plant, for which reason, synthetic plowed and tracked as is traditionally fertilizers could be replaced by these done. Sowing of yellow hybrid 2A120 -128- A. Moreno-Reséndez et al. / Scientia Agropecuaria 8(2) 127 – 135 (2017) corn seeds (Dow® AgroSciences of their transfer to the laboratory AGLOLAB México, S.A de C.V.) with 99% purity, of México and, after registering their was done dry planting on April 20, 2015, weight, they were laid on a forced air oven placing from six to seven seeds per lineal at 72 ºC for a period of 24 h. On dry meter, in order to achieve a population foliage, in addition to determining the density ca. 60,000 plants•ha-1. The first quality of dry matter (DM), using the irrigation took place four days afterwards, technique of near infrared spectroscopy in total, four auxiliary irrigations were (NIRS), the following variables were applied, distributed with an interval of 28 evaluated: crude protein (CP) content, acid to 30 days with a total irrigation lamina of detergent fiber (ADF) content, neutral 80 cm, for which a system with an alfalfa detergent fiber (NDF) content, non-fibrous valve was used (Delgado-Ramírez et al., carbohydrates (NFC), total digestible 2013). nutrients (TDN) and net energy for The fertilizing treatments were: lactation (NEL), in mega calories per T1: Acadian soil [seed inoculation (200 mL•20 kilogram of dry matter. Finally, the kg-1 seed) and applied to soil on the 2º and 3º potential milk productions per ton of dry auxiliary irrigation (0.5 L•ha-1•irrigation-1)] + matter and per hectare were determined Acadian foliage (Stimplex) [two applications using the Milk 2006® software (Shaver et on foliage of 0.5 L•ha-1, using an Hagie 10STS al., 2006). sprinkler system Hagie ® Inc. USA, when the For the experiment, a completely plants presented four to six true leaves] randomized block design with two T2: Regional control. At sowing, the dose 50- treatments and 16 replications was used. 80-00 was applied using (NH4)2SO4 and mono- The statistical analyzes for the studied ammonium phosphate (MAP) with a dose of variables were done using an analysis of 140-00-00 (N-P-K) at first auxiliary irrigation variance and the mean separation by the using urea fertilizer.