Forage quality in cereal-legume intercropping: meta-analyses and empirical studies

Summary

This thesis addresses the current research needs on sustainable intensification of forage production, specifically focusing on cereal-legume intercropping as a potential agricultural technique, by assessing both quantity and quality of the forage and follow-up silage in cereal-legume intercropping and the key factors influencing this. This thesis reports results from a combination of meta-analyses and empirical studies. Through the meta-analyses, we investigated the effect of intercropping legumes with a cereal for fodder production in terms of both quantity and quality, and how yield and quality performance are influenced by species combination and how management practices may influence the size of the effect. Through the empirical studies, we investigated the fodder yield of maize-perennial legume intercropping, and quality of mixed silage produced from such system. While, cereal-legume intercropping can be used for quality forage production; designing such system needs considering the species combination, as underlined by the results.