Vol. 12, Issue 9 (2023)

Author(s):
Adire Chandrakanth, Ch Harikrishna, DBV Ramana, A Sarat Chandra and M Venkateswarlu

Abstract:
A study was conducted to assess the impact of elevated carbon dioxide and temperature levels on the quality of groundnut haulms used as livestock feed. Groundnut crop was grown with recommended package of practices in Carbon dioxide and Temperature Gradient Chamber (CTGC) at four different environmental conditions, viz: Chamber with ambient temperature and carbon dioxide with 27 ± 0.5 ºC temp and 380 ± 25 ppm CO₂ (T₁; control), Chamber with elevated temperature of 5 ± 0.5 °C higher than control (T₂; eTemp), Chamber with elevated CO₂ concentration of 550 ± 50 ppm (T₃; eCO₂) and Chamber with elevated CO₂ concentration of 550 ± 50 ppm with elevated temperature of 5 ± 0.5 °C, over control (T₄; eCO₂+eTemp). At harvest stage, representative groundnut plants from each chamber were collected and haulms were separated and screened for further laboratory analysis. Higher (P<0.01) dry matter, NDF, ADF, ADL per cent were found in haulms of groundnut crop grown under elevated temperature (T₂) environmental conditions, while organic matter, crude protein (CP) and ether extract contents were found highest (P<0.01) at the ambient (T₁; control) climatic conditions. Growing groundnut crop under eCO₂+eTemp (T₄) environmental conditions increased (P<0.01) ash, crude fibre, hemicellulose and NFE contents in haulms of the crop. Significantly (P<0.01) higher cellulose content was found in haulms of groundnut crop grown under T₃ chamber, whereas a non-significant increase in ADL was observed under T₂ chamber conditions. Haulms of the groundnut crop grown in different CTGC chambers differed significantly (P<0.01) in copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) content (mg/kg), while manganese (Mn) content was comparable. The study concludes that, elevated temperature could impact the nutritive value of haulms compared to the elevated carbon dioxide. The nutritive value in terms of CP would decrease under elevated temperature and elevated carbon dioxide conditions resulting in lowered quality. Under elevated temperature conditions the ADL and other fibre fractions are also increased leading to high lignification, making it less palatable. The study also revealed that, the minerals (Cu, Fe and Zn) concentration were relatively higher at eTemp and eCO₂ conditions except manganese (Mn), which is comparable among treatments.