Forage production in tropical legumes, in the dry Colombian Caribbean region.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the forage production in accessions of Canavalia brasiliensis Mart. ex Benth., Canavalia ensiformis (L.) DC. and Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. with different regrowth ages, under conditions of the dry Colombian Caribbean. A split-plot design was used, where the accession was the main plot and the regrowth age, the subplot. The height range of the plants was 29,8-69,8 cm; 31,7-54,9 cm; and 34,2-48,3 cm in C. brasiliensis, C. ensiformis and V. unguiculata, respectively. The accessions 20095 and 17009 of C. brasiliensis had the highest dry forage productions (p < 0,05), with values between 1 412,7 and 2 553,4 kg DM/ha. In V. unguiculata a range was observed between 9 800 and 14 275 kg DM/h; while for C. ensiformis the production varied between 5 498 and 8 071 kg DM/ ha. In all the genotypes, as the regrowth age advanced, the forage production increased (p < 0,05). The C. brasiliensis, C. ensiformis and V. unguiculata accessions showed good adaptation to the soil and climate conditions of the dry Colombian Caribbean.