Portuguese farmers test biodiverse forage mixtures

Carlota Vaz Patto gives an overview of her experiences working with Fertiprado and local farmers in Portugal to identify the advantages of using biodiverse forage mixtures in a Mediterranean climatic and cultural context

Through a participatory approach involving stakeholder consultation and experimentation/validation of project outcomes, my team at ITQB NOVA has been supporting the wider uptake of plant teams by farmers in Portugal via the DIVERSify project. We have conducted a case study of annual biodiverse forage mixtures with Fertiprado, an experienced Portuguese seed company developing biodiverse forage and pasture mixtures, and have analysed four different annual forage mixtures (with a composition of 4 to 6 different species, comprising of legumes and grasses) using different approaches. This includes controlled experiments in a growth chamber mimicking natural autumn conditions, to small pots or mesocosms (0.15 m2 pots), complemented with field experiments in small (10m2) to real size plots (1.5 ha). Participatory farmers have also contributed to this analysis by validating particular annual forage mixtures selected for their particular environments on their farms.

From field comparison of these high complexity annual forage mixtures with their component monocrops, significant differences in yield and nutritive value were detected among mixtures and components. Data indicates that forage mixtures can still be optimized taking into account management (single vs multiple cuts) and the species composition. Significant differences were also detected among mixtures and individual components in root dry weight and photosynthetic performance or efficiency (such as gas exchange) when the comparative studies were performed under controlled conditions. Due to the increased frequency of extreme weather events, such as drought, in Mediterranean environments, optimization of grassland mixture composition should look to legume and grass species and varieties with complementarities in traits, such as root architecture/biomass, as well as photosynthetic related parameters under limited water conditions, to increase resilience to environmental stress without reducing yield or quality.

The Portuguese farmers, both old timers and newcomers to forage mixtures, also clearly saw the benefits of grassland mixture use, according to the testimonies that we have gathered below (alongside some pictures from the fields):

“I have been working with biodiverse forage mixtures for many years and my experience in terms of this type of annual mixtures is that they are a very rich and complete complement for animal diets. I was able to greatly reduce the use of concentrates on my farm making it much more profitable and sustainable.”

“I am a farmer who makes maize and uses the annual Fertiprado mixtures as an autumn-winter crop. This culture brings me great value in terms of soil improvement and is a great crop rotation. These mixtures have many components where several legumes are included. Today, my animals’ food is very balanced and complete, rich in energy, protein and with high digestibility.”

“I use annual biodiverse crop mixtures to guarantee a reserve of quality fodder on my farm…It is a very desirable product for our animals. Production levels have been highly satisfactory…I was able to increase the carrying capacity, maintaining the sustainability of the system.”

We are now working to publish the results of our experiments and awareness of the benefits of growing such biodiverse forage mixtures is increasing among the farming community all the time. One of the farmers growing these forage mixtures as supplementary feed for a local breed of cattle in the Montado features in episode 3 of the DIVERSify mini-series Growing Beyond Monoculture: watch here (from 8:00) and stay tuned for further updates of the results from this case study!

| AUTHOR: Carlota Vaz Patto, Ana Barradas |