Methods of Establishment of Pintoi Peanut and Palisadegrass in the Amazon Region of Tocantins State in Brazil.

Pintoi peanut (Arachis pintoi) is a warm-season perennial legume used as forage in tropical and subtropical regions; however, management practices to establish pintoi peanut and palisadegrass have not been explored. The objective of this study was to evaluate the establishment of ‘Amarillo’ pintoi peanut, ‘Marandu’ palisadegrass (Urocloa brizantha), or pintoi peanut-palisadegrass intercropped plots distributed in a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The experiment was conducted from January to May 2015 and 2016. Plots were 5 x 4 m. Forage was seeded into a prepared seedbed with seeding rates of 8, 10, and 8+10 kg ha^-1 for palisadegrass, pintoi peanut, and pintoi peanut-palisadegrass respectively. Palisadegrass herbage accumulation (HA), leaf area index (LAI), tiller density, and leaf:stem ratio were evaluated every 28 d. In addition, pintoi peanut frequency and ground cover were evaluated every 28 d. There was no difference in palisadegrass HA (mean = 1,144 kg ha^-1), LAI (mean = 1.93 m² m^-2), tiller density (579 tillers m^-2) and leaf:stem ratio (mean = 0.91) between palisegrass and pintoi peanut-palisadegrass treatments. There was an increase in HA (from 840 to 1340 kg ha^-1), LAI (from 1.51 to 2.13 m² m^-2), tiller density (form 501 to 674 tillers m^-2) from January to May in both treatments. Conversely, leaf:stem ratio decreased from 0.95 to 0.89 from January to May. Pintoi peanut frequency and cover was greater for pintoi peanut than pintoi peanut-palisadegrass plots (55 vs. 23 plants m^-2and 29 vs. 8% for frequency and ground cover, respectively). Pintoi peanut frequency and ground cover increased from January to May in both treatments. Intercropping pintoi peanut with palisadegrass at establishment did not affect palisadegrass HA and may have subsequent beneficial effects on palisadegrass HA by supplying additional N to the system.