Nutrient concentrations and nutritive value of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) straw in south central Alberta

Abstract

The development of field pea as a major specialty crop in western Canada has led to questions regarding the nutritive value of its straw component. The objective of this study was to examine the nutrient composition of field pea straw collected from south central Alberta variety trials. Our analysis focused on four varieties grown on four locations for the period between 1995 and 1997. Five nutrients were examined: CP, Ca, P, ADF and NDF. There were significant year × location interaction effects for concentrations of all five nutrients. Location-to-location differences were considerably inconsistent across the years. The environmental variation in nutrients of pea straw requires that the optimal strategy of managing the pea straw (particularly using it as part of cattle feed) be based on an extensive sampling of the straw over diverse environments rather than on the average value. Key words: Nutritive composition, field pea straw, environmental variation, Pisum sativum L.