Vol. 12, Special Issue 8 (2023)

Author(s):
Swati Mehta, Neetu Sharma, BC Sharma, Vishal Raina and Manish Kumar

Abstract:
An experiment entitled, “Strategies for round the year fodder availability” was conducted at the Research Farm, Division of Agronomy, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu during 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 to study the various forage based cropping systems for round the year green fodder availability in the irrigated conditions of Jammu. The forage based cropping system comprised of the combination of annual cereals, perennial grasses and legume crops. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design and replicated thrice. The soil of the experimental field was non saline, sandy clay loam in texture, slightly alkaline in reaction, low in organic carbon & available nitrogen and medium in available potassium and phosphorous. The nutrients were applied according to the recommended package of practice. The efficiency of different forage based sequences was adjudged by taking system productivity and green forage yield. Statistical analysis was done with one-way ANOVA. Henceforth, based on two years study, it was concluded that Multicut Sorghum + Maize with root slips of Napier planted on the field boundaries in July recorded significantly highest green forage yield which was though statistically at par with the Multicut Sorghum + Maize with root slips of Setaria planted on the field boundaries in July followed by Multicut Sorghum + Maize with stem cuttings of Napier planted on the field boundaries in January and Multicut Sorghum + Maize with stem cuttings of Setaria planted on the field boundaries in January during kharif season whereas with regard to rabi season, Berseem + Oat with root slips of Napier planted on the field boundaries in July was found to be significantly superior than the other treatments.