Productivity and Quality of Fodder Crops under Late-sown Conditions in Semi-arid Tropics of India

Abstract

Background: In India, agriculture and animal husbandry are inextricably linked and are essential for livelihood security. Despite the fact that India has the world’s largest livestock population, feed and fodder supply is under huge strain, especially as area accessible for fodder cultivation has been shrinking. During the months of March-May and November-February are known as lean periods of fodder production, the supply of green fodder is limited throughout the year in a rainfed condition. Fodder crops develop swiftly and cover the ground surface quickly, even in low-rainfall conditions, producing a significant amount of green fodder while also providing vegetative cover over the land, resulting in resource conserving as well as increased productivity. In this context, the current study was conducted to evaluate various fodder crops, assess their productivity and quality and make appropriate recommendations for semi-arid tropics of India. Methods: Field experiments were carried out for three years from 2015-16 to 2017-18 at the Agricultural Research Station, Ananthapuramu andhra Pradesh, India, which is located between 14°41'N Latitude and 77°40'E Longitude and an altitude of 350 m. above mean sea level, which falls under the Semi-Arid Tropics. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with nine treatments (fodder crops) and three replications. The treatments comprised of different fodder crops viz., fodder sorghum, fodder maize, fodder bajra, clusterbean, fodder cowpea, field bean, brown top millet, horse gram and sunhemp. Result: The current study concludes that fodder bajra, fodder sorghum and fodder maize are potential forage cereals because they can produce more quantity and quality fodder while also ensuring net monetary returns and fodder cowpea and sunhemp are the next best suitable forage legumes under late-sown conditions in the semi-arid tropics of India.

Maximizing Water Use Efficiency (WUE), Land Utilization Efficiency (LUE) and Competitive Indices of Maize and Soybean Crops Through Intercropping Pattern with Straw Mulching

“…The lowest production efficiency (11.18 kg ha -1 day -1 ) was found in maize/soybean intercropping (Table 4) owing to lower grain yield in soybean despite higher market price in maize. (Reddy et al, 2022) findings highest production efficiency was found in fodder bajra (176.8 kg ha -1 day -1 ) with sorghum and maize following at (138.9 kg ha -1 day -1 and 130.5 kg ha -1 day -1 ). (Layek et al, 2014) report that in both years, soybean+ maize with 100% RDN had the highest SEY, whereas soybean + pearl millet with no N produced the lowest.…”

Women cultivators’ Access to institutional credit and Effect on Agricultural Productivity- Profitability: A case study in West bengal

“…The cropping intensity in the State has increased from 131 per cent to 184 per cent in 18 agricultural districts during the last two decades, 34 percent higher than the country average (Tewari et al 2012). The State has achieved an all-time record in food grains production and ranks first in production of rice in the country followed by potato (one-third of total potato production comes from West Bengal) in recent times, the two most labour-intensive crops having distinct characteristics of higher female participation (Reddy, 2013). On the other hand, the farm sector of West Bengal has failed to make significant progress in level of farm mechanization.…”

Sweet Sorghum as a Potential Fallow Crop in Sugarcane Farming for Biomethane Production in Queensland, Australia

“…In addition, it can produce a large amount of biomass that is rich in fermentable sugars [11,12]. Its high biomass yields per hectare (ha) and short growth period compared with other commercial energy crops, such as maize, wheat, corn, and sugarcane [13][14][15], makes it as an ideal multipurpose crop that can be used for food, fodder, and energy production [16]. In order to avoid the food-to-fuel conflict, sweet sorghum can be planted on marginal areas and rotated with other legume or cereal crops [17] or even grown as an energy crop during the fallow period of annual crops [18].…”