Productivity and Quality of Diverse Ripe Pasture Grass Fodder Depends on the Method of Soil Cultivation

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the influence of soil cultivation method on the productivity and quality of pasture grass fodder. We found that increasing the depth of cultivation from 8–10 cm to 20–22 cm (using surface tillage with disk implements) improved the productivity of all the grass species studied – <em>Phleum pratense</em>, <em>Lolium perenne</em>, <em>Festuca </em><em>orientalis</em>, <em>Dactylis glomerata</em>, <em>Bromus </em><em>inermis</em>, <em>Phalaris arundinacea</em>, <em>Festuca</em><em> </em><em>rubra </em>– by an average of 2%–3% at an LSD₀₅ of 0.30 t ha⁻¹, over a period of 3 years. On average, the most important factor influencing the production of 1 ha of dry mass appeared to be the species of grass, accounting for 57% of the variation. The depth of soil tillage was also important, accounting for 43% of the variation. Of all the species studied, the highest productivity was exhibited by <em>Lolium perenne </em>(0.35 t ha⁻¹ of dry weight). Increasing the soil cultivation depth led to an increase in the content of crude protein and albumen (0.9%–1.1%). According to the analysis of organic matter content and digestibility of the fodder, across the different depths of soil cultivation, the early ripening species <em>Dactylis glomerata</em>, and the average ripening species <em>Festuca </em><em>orientalis</em>, <em>Lolium perenne</em>, and <em>Bromus </em><em>inermis</em>, performed best. Considering the different depths of soil cultivation, <em>Lolium perenne </em>[154 g; surface tillage (disking) 8–10 cm] and <em>Festuca</em><em> </em><em>orientalis </em>(152 g; ploughing 20–22 cm) provided the most fodder units with digestible protein.