Grain crops in fodder production

Abstract

The possibility of increasing the yield of fodder-grain crops in single-species agrocenoses to provide livestock with nutritious highquality feed was studied. The results of field and laboratory studies (2016–2018) on the cultivation of traditional (barley, oats, spring and winter rye) and uncommon fodder crops (triticale, corn) sown as single crops in the forest-steppe zone of Trans-Baikal Territory are presented. The objects of the research were the following recognized varieties of the crops under study: local winter rye Zhitkinskaya, spring rye Onokhoyskaya, oats Metis, barley Anna, triticale Ukro, corn hybrid Obsky 150 CB. The experiment was conducted on meadow chernozem mealy-carbonate soil (light loam by particle size distribution). Poaceous fodder crops were assessed in terms of their adaptability to growing conditions, yield and nutritional value of grain. Their economically valuable characteristics were shown. On average over the years of research, when cultivating traditional and uncommon poaceous crops for fodder grain in single-crop sowings, triticale and corn had an advantage. The grain yield in the experiment was 3.0-5.8 t/ha, collection of fodder units – 3.39-6.13 t/ha, digestible protein 287-494 kg/ha, gross energy – 34.7-60.5 GJ/ha, availability of digestible protein – 85–77 g per one feed unit. Traditional crops were inferior to uncommon crops in terms of grain yield by 0.5-3.3 t/ ha, (on average for the variants of the experiment), feed units – by 0.99-3.73 t/ha, digestible protein – by 85-292 kg/ha, gross energy – by 0.99–35.7 GJ/ha.