ABSTRACT: Corn and sorghum are standard silage crops because of their fermentative characteristics. While corn and sorghum silages have lower crude protein (CP) contents than other crops, intercropping with legumes can increase CP content. Furthermore, one way to increase CP content is the addition of legumes to silage. Consequently, the research objective was to evaluate the fermentative and bromatological characteristics of corn (Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) silages added with forage peanuts (Arachis pintoi). The experimental design was completely randomized with four replicates. The treatments consisted of corn silage, sorghum silage, forage peanut silage, corn silage with 30% forage peanut, and sorghum silage with 30% forage peanut. The results showed that the corn and sorghum added with peanut helped to improve the silage fermentative and bromatological characteristics, proving to be an efficient technique for silage quality. The forage peanut silage had lower fermentative characteristics than the corn and sorghum silages. However, the forage peanut silage had a greater CP content, which increased the protein contents of the corn and sorghum silages when intercropped with forage peanuts. | RESUMO: O milho e o sorgo são considerados culturas padrão para ensilagem, em virtude de suas características fermentativas. No entanto, silagens de milho e sorgo apresentam teores de proteína bruta inferiores aos de outras culturas. E uma das formas para aumentar a proteína bruta é a adição de leguminosa na ensilagem. Diante disso, objetivou-se avaliar as características fermentativas e bromatológicas da silagem de milho (Zea mays) e sorgo (Sorghum bicolor) aditivada com amendoim forrageiro (Arachis pintoi). O delineamento experimental foi o inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos foram constituídos de silagem de milho; silagem de sorgo; silagem de amendoim forrageiro; silagem de milho com 30% de amendoim forrageiro e silagem de sorgo com 30% de amendoim forrageiro. Os resultados demonstraram que a silagem de milho e sorgo aditivada com amendoim forrageiro, contribuiu para melhorar os parametros fermentativos e bromatológicos da silagem, mostrando ser uma técnica eficiente para a qualidade da silagem. A silagem de amendoim forrageiro apresentou caracteríticas fermentantivas inferiores a silagem de milho e sorgo, em contrapartida apresentou maior teor de PB, que contribuiu para aumentar o teor protéico das silagens de milho e sorgo.

Corn and sorghum are standard silage crops because of their fermentative characteristics. While corn and sorghum silages have lower crude protein (CP) contents than other crops, intercropping with legumes can increase CP content. Furthermore, one way to increase CP content is the addition of legumes to silage. Consequently, the research objective was to evaluate the fermentative and bromatological characteristics of corn (Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) silages added with forage peanuts (Arachis pintoi). The experimental design was completely randomized with four replicates. The treatments consisted of corn silage, sorghum silage, forage peanut silage, corn silage with 30% forage peanut, and sorghum silage with 30% forage peanut. The results showed that the corn and sorghum added with peanut helped to improve the silage fermentative and bromatological characteristics, proving to be an efficient technique for silage quality. The forage peanut silage had lower fermentative characteristics than the corn and sorghum silages. However, the forage peanut silage had a greater CP content, which increased the protein contents of the corn and sorghum silages when intercropped with forage peanuts.