With the objective of testing the cutting systems of intercropped soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) on forage production , an experiment was carried out in a field at the Universidade Federal de Lavras - MG. The experiment was conducted on a Dusky Red Latosol of loamy texture. The experimental desing utilized was that of randomized blocks in factorial scheme 5 x 2 x 2 + 2 + 2 with three replications, constituted of 5 systems of cutting, 2 soybean cultivars (CAC-1 and Conquista) and 2 hybrids of sorghum (AG 2002 and BR 601). In the first system the sorghum and soybean plants were cut closed to the soil only one time, at the farinaceous stage of sorghum. In the second, the plants were cut twice, the first cut at the height of 30cm and the second, after regrowth, close to the soil, both being done at the farinaceous stage of sorghum. In the third system, the first two cuts were done at the plant height of 30 cm, at the farinaceous stage of sorghum. The fourth system was a cut done at the vegetative stage of the soybean (V8-V12), at the plant height of 30cm, and the other, after regrowth, was done close to the soil, at the R5 stage. In the fifth system, the first cut was done at the vegetative stage of soybean (V8-V12 ), at the plant height of 30 cm, and the second, after regrowth, was done at the farinaceous stage of the sorghum, close to the soil. The cuttings at the farinaceous stage of sorghum (system 3) provided greater total green mass, dry matter and total crude protein. The association of sorghum AG2002 and CAC-1 showed a great increase in the amount of total green mass, dry matter and total crude protein.
Intercropping; sorghun; soybean; forage
