Table 2.
Dry mass, C and N content (mean ± standard deviation) of shoots and roots (0–40 cm) of B. brizantha and weeds grown during fall and winter after the first maize harvest (2016/17), as affected by a combination of N fertilization and intercrop with B. brizantha.
| Treatment | Above-ground |
Below-ground |
Above + below-ground |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DM | N | C | DM | N | C | DM | N | C | |
| t ha-1 | kg ha-1 | t ha-1 | t ha-1 | kg ha-1 | t ha-1 | t ha-1 | kg ha-1 | t ha-1 | |
| M0 | 1.2b ± 0.4 | 23b ± 9.1 | 0.35b ± 0.12 | 0.4b ± 0.15 | 5b ± 1.2 | 0.16b ± 0.05 | 1.6b | 27b | 0.51b |
| M150 | 1.7b ± 0.6 | 33b ± 10.3 | 0.49b ± 0.18 | 0.6b ± 0.17 | 7b ± 2.7 | 0.21b ± 0.05 | 2.3b | 40b | 0.70b |
| MB0 | 8.1a ± 1.9 | 124a ± 23.6 | 2.56a ± 0.33 | 3.8a ± 1.55 | 21a ± 8.1 | 1.94a ± 0.64 | 11.9a | 146a | 4.50a |
| MB150 | 8.1a ± 2.6 | 110a ± 30.3 | 2.88a ± 0.65 | 3.6a ± 1.21 | 22a ± 7.4 | 1.41a ± 0.39 | 11.7a | 133a | 4.29a |
M0: maize monocrop with no N and only weeds grown after maize; M150: maize monocrop fertilized with 150 kg ha-1 of N and only weeds grown after maize; MB0: maize with no N and B. brizantha intercrop growing after maize; MB150: maize fertilized with 150 kg ha-1 of N and B. brizantha intercrop growing after maize. DM: Dry mass; N: N content; C: C content. Different letters denote significant differences between treatments in the columns for the LSD test (p ≤ 0.05).