AGRONOMY- A KEY TO INFLUENCE FODDER TOXIC SUBSTANCES – A REVIEW
HARPREET KAUR OBEROI* AND MANINDER KAUR
Forage and Millet Section, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics
Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India
*(e-mail : harpreetoberoi@pau.edu)
(Received : 18 March 2019; Accepted : 30 March 2019)
SUMMARY
Fodder crops quality depends on the toxic substances present in it. The three main toxic substances viz. nitrate, oxalate and HCN are most important and are present in different fodder crops and the appropriate agronomic management strategies which have the potential to increase the green fodder yield also has the potential to improve the fodder quality by influencing these most common toxic elements. The influence of agronomy on these negative impact nutrients in various fodder have been discussed. The fertilization application of nitrogen in split doses provides better nutrient distribution and reduces the potential for nitrate toxicity whereas the increase nitrogen application and unirrigated conditions resulted in increase in nitrate but well under toxic level. The form of fertilization also alters the antinutrients levels such as FYM with phosphate fertilizer resulted in lower nitrate content in berseem. Sowing time showed variation in oxalate level in Napier Bajra hybrid. Similarly, sowing of sorghum in also influenced the HCN production. Therefore, the agronomy is found to be the key to improve forage quality by changing content of antinutrients along with yield by adopting appropriate agronomic practices from seed sowing till harvesting.
Key words: Fodder crops, toxic traits, agronomic practices, anti-nutrients