Use of digital tools to monitor redesigned grazing systems

• Grant number: 24/13746-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Pastures and Forage Crops
• Principal Investigator: Jozivaldo Prudêncio Gomes de Morais
• Grantee: Giovani Vignola Tirloni
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Agrárias (CCA). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Araras , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The redesign of productive properties is a relatively new term. It consists of the reorganization of systems, which may or may not include new plants with specific objectives. Data from the literature demonstrate that the consortium of trees and pastures is a way to improve the attributes of the systems as a whole. The redesign of landscapes, in order to obtain greater multifunctionality, is gaining ground in the livestock sector. However, information that can help producers in the implementation of these models is still scarce. Thus, monitoring the growth curve of unconventional forages associated with the use of digital tools for monitoring appears as a solution, providing the producer with greater autonomy and accessibility in obtaining data. Thus, the objective of this work is to develop growth curves of unconventional plants for grazing and to evaluate the application of digital tools that can be used to guide producers in the monitoring of redesigned grazing systems. For this purpose, the forages: blackberry (Morus nigra), gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) or tithonia (Tithonia diversifolia) planted in consortium with brachiaria will be evaluated in a non-destructive and destructive manner, allowing the measurement of the growth rate of the forages, biomass available for animal consumption and crude protein levels. Initially, a uniformity cut will be made in the area and samples will be taken every 10 and/or 30 days. It is expected that the data obtained in this study will be able to guide the management of these unconventional forages and that they will allow the viability, usability and efficiency of alternative methods that facilitate the monitoring of unconventional systems by producers.