Clipping Forage Sorghum Twice and Nitrogen Topdressing Offer an Option for Dual-Purpose Use for Cover Cropping and Fodder in Mixed Crop/Livestock Farming Systems

Abstract

Management practices that promote dual-purpose use of cover crops as forage and soil cover can encourage adoption in mixed smallholder (SH) farming systems. This study investigated the feasibility of dual-purpose use of forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor x Sorghum bicolor var. sudanense) by testing the effects of clipping frequency and nitrogen (N) topdressing on the root biomass, crude protein (CP), acid detergent (ADF), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in the greenhouse and vegetative biomass on the experimental farm station. Four levels of clipping were tested: not clipped (C1), clipped once (C2), twice (C3), and thrice (C4). Nitrogen topdressing had two levels: with (N1) and without (N0) recommended supplementary N. Results show that absence of N topdressing significantly (p < 0.05) increased root biomass in C2, while increasing clipping frequency significantly (p < 0.001) decreased root biomass. During the growing period, N topdressing significantly (p < 0.001) increased CP content in C3 and C4 and NDF (p < 0.01) content in C4. At the termination stage, there was a significant interaction between clipping frequency and N topdressing on the biomass yield obtained in both 2016-2017 (p < 0.05) and 2017-2018 (p < 0.001), respectively. Clipping twice and N topdressing emerged as the best management practice for the dual-purpose of soil cover and livestock feed.

Optimizing the clipping frequency and nitrogen topdressing in a dual-purpose oat used for fodder and cover cropping

“…Therefore, the carbohydrates present in the plant reserve, such as in the roots, are channeled toward above-ground biomass regrowth, rather than toward root expansion. The observed reduction in biomass with increased clipping frequencies was consistent with findings from a similar experiment with forage sorghum as a test crop (Janhi et al, 2020). The reduction in biomass is linked to the increased period of recovery with increased clipping frequencies.…”

“…In such cases, plant roots play an important role in water and nutrient uptake to support regrowth (Ryan et al, 2016). In this study, measured root biomass decreased with increased clipping frequency indicating a gradual depletion of plant carbohydrate reserve present in the roots as suggested by Janhi et al (2020). According to Liu et al (2018), roots form part of the reserve containing NSC, which are responsible for the regrowth of aerial biomass.…”

Effect of Different Water Quality on the Nutritive Value and Chemical Composition of Sorghum bicolor Payenne in Cape Verde

“…Galavi et al [27] mentioned that reduced stem fiber could be due to not only N added by treated water, but also to solution carbohydrate enlargement and, eventually, the NDF results decrease upon forage. Significantly higher mean ADF and NDF values were obtained by Janhi et al [38] in forage sorghum that was not supplemented with N compared to treatments with added N. The harvest effect was significant for both the NDF and ADF contents. The NFD contents increased with advanced maturity.…”

Exploring Plant Genetic Variations with Morphometric and Molecular Markers

“…For livestock feed, sorghum may be utilized in a number of ways like as green chop, grazed and made into hay or silage [14]. By adopting a combination of these systems, sorghum sufficiently meets the year round needs of stock farmers.…”