Forage Yield and Silage Quality of Intercropped Maize+Soybean With Different Relative Maturity Cycle

The success of maize+soybean intercrop depends on the correct synchronism between species phenological stages at the silage point. Due to it, the experiment was carried out to evaluate maize+soybean intercrop forage yield and silage quality using crops with different maturity cycle combination. The experiment used a randomized complete block design with a 2 × 3 factorial scheme. Treatments consisted of two maize hybrids (1: P1630YHR-early cycle and 2: middle cycle P30F53VYHR) and two soybean cultivars (P95R51-maturity cycle of 5.1; TMG7062-maturity cycle of 6.2) and one control represented by maize monocrop. Silage harvesting was performed when maize had reached 2/3 milk line stage. Intercropping soybean into maize did not affect its biomass yield. Both soybean cultivars present compatible cycles for ensiling together with maize hybrids, since they were in phenological stages from R5.3 to R7 by the time maize was at its optimum stage for ensiling. There was interaction between species for the soybean biomass yield. Maize hybrid P30F53 produced higher biomass yield than P1630 what also resulted in higher amount of total crude protein yield. Intercrop P1630-P95R51 produced 458 Kg ha-1 of crude protein more than maize monocrop. Maize+soybean intercropping system results in higher silage crude protein percentage and yield per area (Kg of CP ha-1).