Nutrient qualities hydroponic corn green fodder (HCGF) of yellow-maize on different harvest time

Abstract

Abstract The supply of high-quality forage was inhibited by land availability and forage preparation time before it can be used as feed. Hydroponic corn green fodder (HCGF) technology may be a solution to this problem by supplying high-quality forage in short period of time in limited land resources. Yellow-maize is a potential seed for HCGF. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nutrient quality HCGF of yellow-maize harvested at 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, and 15th day. The design used was completely randomized design with four treatments. The results showed that the linear pattern was observed on dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude fibre (CF), and crude protein (CP) content as the harvest day increased. The DM, OM, and CP content decreased while CF content increased in accordance with the longer HCGF harvest time. The best HCGF profile characterized by high DM content (25.01%) with sufficient CP content (20.09%) was observed in the 7th day harvest. In general, HCGF of yellow-maize harvested at 13th day showed increase in CF content (from 12.09% to 16.27%), and CP content (from 11.70% to 13.23%) compare to its grain.