MANPREET SINGH BRAR* AND NAVEEN KUMAR
Department of Agronomy
Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004 (Punjab), India
Department of Agronomy, Forages and Grassland Management
Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya
Palampur-176062 (Himachal Pradesh), India
*(e-mail : msbrarbrar@gmail.com)
(Received : 24 September 2020; Accepted : 30 December 2020)

SUMMARY

In India and in the hilly regions, crop residues, cultivated forages, pastures and grasslands are the main sources of livestock feed, but inadequate availability of qualitative feed and fodder adversely affects livestock productivity. Although, shortage of animal feed and fodder is a major issue that needs to be addressed but simultaneously quality of feed and forage cannot to be ignored. Green forage availability is very important to maintain livestock health and productivity and this is particularly essential in dairy entrepreneurship where consistent and regular supply of green fodder is imperative to sustain the milk production. Green herbage in addition to energy also provides vitamins, minerals with better dry matter digestibility. Good quality forage helps to meet out 90 per cent of energy and protein requirement of ruminants. In the country, farmer faces rapid inflation in the cost of animal feed. Feed accounts for 70 per cent of the cost of production and this can be brought down to 30-40 per cent, if sufficient quantity of quality forage is available. Sorghum and pearl millet are two of the tropical region’s gifted genera that provide food, feed, stove, and fuel for millions of poor farming families and their livestock. This paper reviews the literature on intercropping of sorghum and pearl millet hybrids along with other essential cereal legume mixture.

Key words:Feed, forage, intercropping, mixture, production

215-222

HARPREET KAUR OBEROI* AND MANINDER KAUR
Forages, Millets and Nutrition Section,
Department of Pant Breeding and Genetics,
Punjab Agricultural University,
Ludhiana-141004 (Punjab), India
*(e-mail : harpreetoberoi@pau.edu)
(Received : 09 November 2020; Accepted : 10 December 2020)

SUMMARY

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench produces the nitrogen-containing natural product dhurrin that provides chemical defence against herbivores and pathogens via the release of toxic hydrogen cyanide gas. Drought can increase dhurrin in shoot tissues to concentrations toxic to livestock. In the present study, plants were grown under two watering regimes and HCN concentrations were assessed in fodder sorghum under room (37 ºC) and freezing (-15 ºC) temperature conditions. Water limitation and storage temperature were found to be the most important determinants of dhurrin concentration in fodder sorghum. The hydrogen cyanide (HCN) production was more in the plants grown under drought conditions when compared with plants grown under irrigated conditions. HCN concentration was more, percent increase of 116-220% in irrigated crop and 88-400% in non-irrigated crop, when leaves were store under cold temperature as cold stress event was as effective as fine grinding in facilitating complete conversion of dhurrin to cyanide. Increased uptake of forage sorghum grown under irrigated conditions is required so that farmers are assured of cyanogen-safe fodder. From these studies, it can be concluded that sorghum crop cultivated especially under drought conditions should be strictly evaluated for HCN estimation before its use as fodder for livestock and should be dried after harvest for few hours at room temperature. The dried sorghum fodder is safer with respect to anti-nutrient HCN then freshly cut fodder sorghum (60 days after sowing).

Key words:HCN, fodder sorghum, irrigation, drought

223-227

K. N. MANOJ*, B. G. SHEKARA, K. N. KALYANA MURTHY AND MUDALAGIRIYAPPA
Department of Agronomy, UAS, GKVK, Bengaluru (Karnataka), India
AICRP on Forage Crops, ZARS, V.C. Farm, Mandya (Karnataka), India
AICRP on Dryland Agriculture, GKVK, Bengaluru (Karnataka), India
*(e-mail : manojrajagri@gmail.com)
(Received : 2 December 2020; Accepted : 28 December 2020)

SUMMARY

The experiment was conducted during kharif, rabi and summer seasons of 2018-19 and 2019-20 at Zonal Agricultural Research Station, Vishweswaraiah Canal Farm, Mandya, Karnataka to study the fodder production potential and quality of different fodder cropping systems. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with fifteen different fodder cropping systems comprising both annual and perennial fodder crops and replicated thrice. The data revealed that, perennial B×N hybrid + Lucerne cropping system at 2:8 row proportion recorded significantly higher green fodder yield (1636 q/ha/year) and dry matter yield (321 q/ha/year) which was closely followed by B×N hybrid + Cowpea and B×N hybrid + Sesbania perennial systems at 2:8 row proportion. Withrespect to fibre fractions, significantly lower content of crude fibre (27.02 %), acid detergent fibre (31.22 %) and neutral detergent fibre (43.47 %) was noticed with B×N hybrid + Sesbania (2:8), sole oats and sole lucerne cropping systems but they found on par with other cropping systems involving legume crops. Sole cropping system of oats recorded significantly higher net energy of lactation (1.48 Mcal/kg DM) and metabolizable energy (14.32 MJ/kg DM). Thus perennial cereal-legume fodder cropping systems were identified as best systems for quality green fodder production.

Key words:Cropping systems, green fodder yield, quality, fibre fractions, energy

228-231

RAVISH PANCHTA*, SATYAWAN ARYA, DALVINDER PAL SINGH, SATPAL, PREETI AND RAJENDER KUMAR
Forage Section, Department of Genetics & Plant Breeding
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Department of Basic Engineering
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : r.panchta@gmail.com)
(Received : 10 September 2020; Accepted : 14 December 2020)

SUMMARY

Fourteen genotypes of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) were evaluated for character association during kharif 2017. The genotypes were analyzed for genetic variability, correlation and path coefficients. The genotypes were found significantly different for all the characters, which indicated scope for further genetic studies. High heritability along with high genetic advance was recorded in seed yield per plot, days to 50% flowering and plant height indicating predominance of additive effects in the inheritance of these characters. The phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) estimates was invariably higher than their corresponding genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) values. This suggests the environmental influence. High GCV and PCV were observed for seed yield per plot, days to 50% flowering, days to maturity and plant height suggesting that selection based on these characters would facilitate successful isolation of desirable types. Number of seeds per pod had positive and significant correlation at genotypic level with seed yield per plot. The traits like number of seeds per pod, number branches per plant and days to maturity showed direct effect on seed yield per plot. Two genotypes viz. GC 3 and PTBCP 4 were found resistant against Cowpea Yellow Mosaic Virus (CYMV) disease.

Key words:Cowpea, Genetic advance, GCV, PCV, Heritability

232-235

RAJESH KUMAR ARYA*, G. S. DAHIYA, RAVI KUMAR, J. M. SUTALIYA, VANDANA AND PAWAN KUMAR
MAP Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding,
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : rakarayogi@gmail.com)
(Received: 24 November 2020; Accepted: 25 December 2020)

SUMMARY

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) belongs to family Fabaceae. It is cultivated for food, feed and fodder purposes. The field experiment was conducted in RBD by using 21 newly developed genotypes of Faba bean including checks during rabi 2017-18 and 2018-19 at Research Farm of MAP Section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar to study the impact of heat under semi-arid conditions. In the present study, wide genetic variability was observed seed yield (kg/ha). Out of 21 genotypes, the genotype HB-13-18 (30.27 q/ha) was best performing genotype, which was closely followed HB-13-43 (29.58 q/ha), HB-13-11 (29.08 q/ha), HB-13-2 (29.07 q/ha), HB-13-10 (29.07 q/ha), HB-13-20 (28.75 q/ha), HFB-1 (c) (25.28 q/ha) and Vikrant (c) (23.80 q/ha). Under heat stress condition, genotype HB-13-18 exhibited good potential for commercial cultivation as it showed less reduction in seed yield and low in HSI, but before recommendation for commercial cultivation to be tested over time and space.

Key words:Seed yield, heat stress, HSI, Faba bean (Vicia faba L.), elite genotypes

236-240

KAJAL SINGH, SEVA NAYAK DHEERAVATHU,*, PRAMOD W. RAMTEKE,**, REETU, NILAMANI DIKSHIT AND THULASI BAI VADITHE
Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture,
Technology and Sciences, Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), India
ICAR-Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi (Uttar Pradesh), India
Department of Microbiology, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur (Andhra Pradesh), India
*(e-mail : sevanayak2005@gmail.com)
(Received : 10 December 2020; Accepted : 30 December 2020)

SUMMARY

Morpho-physiological and green fodder yield of three BN Hybrid varieties viz., BNH-3, BNH-6, BNH-10 and one TSH Hybrid were assessed under different gradient of soil salt concentrations viz., control, 4, 6 and 8 ECe (dSm^-1) in pots condition under net house. The experiment was laid out in a factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. The results indicated that salinity stress has significant negative effect on the plant’s morphological traits, such as its shoot and root length, root volume, root fresh weight and shoot biomass. The results of this study indicate that salinity stress has significant negative effect on Tri-Specific Hybrid and Bajra Napier Hybrids morphological traits which results in green fodder yield loss. Shoot biomass exhibited/indicated highly positive significant correlation with plant height, number of leaves and leaf area but negative significant correlation was recorded with numbers of tillers at p<0.01 and 0.05 levels. Mean percentage of reduction in plant height, number of leaves, leaf size, shoot biomass, root length and root mass was higher in BNH-6 while lowest was measured in BNH-3 among the four investigated varieties.

Key words:Hybrid Napier, Tri-specific hybrid (TSH), salt stress, soil ECe, green fodder yield

241-247

UMMAISA REHMAN1 AND WASEEM RAJA
Division of Agronomy Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir, India
*(e-mail : waseemra1@gmail.com)
(Received: 10 December 2020; Accepted : 28 December 2020)

SUMMARY

Taking into consideration the huge gap between the demand and supply of green nutritious fodder and quality dry matter, the present investigation was undertaken at Agronomy farm, FoA, Wadura of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir during Kharif 2018, to recognize suitable combination of legume with fodder sorghum for higher yield and quality. The experiment comprising of 10 treatment combinations laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Sole sorghum ranked top in forage equivalent yield (531.87 q/ha) followed by sorghum + soybean (2:1) (452.14 q/ha). Sorghum + soybean (2:1) recorded higher crude protein yield (17.22 q/ha) followed by sorghum (70%) + soybean (30%) (16.79 q/ha). However, sorghum + soybean (2:1) was found superior in quality than rest of cropping systems. The highest benefit: cost ratio of Rs. 2.43 and net profit of Rs. 2, 75, 423.5 ha-1 was recorded with sole sorghum followed by sorghum + soybean (2:1).

Key words:Cropping system, fodder legumes, fodder sorghum, fodder yield, quality

248-253

NAVISH KUMAR, A. K. DHAKA*, SATISH KUMAR, BHAGAT SINGH, JITENDER KUMAR BHATIA AND GAURENDRA GUPTA
Department of Agronomy,
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana) India
*(e-mail : dhakaanilkumar@yahoo.in)
(Received : 27 October 2020; Accepted : 3 December 2020)

SUMMARY

A field experiment was conducted at CCS HAU, Hisar during Kharif season of 2019 in randomized block design, replicated thrice with thirteen treatments to evaluate the maize based intercropping systems taking soybean, urdbean, clusterbean and mungbean as intercrop with planting patterns of maize + intercrop (1:1) and paired row planting of maize (60:105 cm) with two rows of intercrops in between two pairs. It was concluded that among all intercropping systems, paired row planting of maize at 60:105 cm along with two rows of mungbean in between two pairs was recorded with significantly higher Maize Equivalent Yield (5647 kg/ha), Relative Crowding Coefficient for system (3.73), Land Equivalent Ratio (1.29), net return (61335), Benefit cost ratio (2.37) and per day return (Rs.515.4/ha/day) closely followed by maize + mungbean (1:1) in terms of maize equivalent yield and economics. All indices used for evaluation of intercropping systems under study were significantly influenced by intercropping treatments. Maize was recorded with higher competitive ratio and aggresivity values compared to intercrops, which shows the more competitive nature of maize over intercrops. Among intercrops, mungbean and soybean showed higher competitive nature compared to urdbean and cluster bean against maize crop. Hence, for sustenance of our natural resources and relative economic profitability maize growers should go for paired row planting of maize (60:105 cm) along with two rows of mungbean in between two pairs followed by maize + mungbean (1:1) instead of sole planting of maize.

Key words:Aggresivity, benefit cost ratio, cluster bean, competitive ratio, intercropping, land equivalent ratio, maize, mung bean, soybean, urd bean

254-260

LALITA SAINI*, SAHIL SINDHI, B. K. DAVDA, B. GANGAIAH, SATPAL AND N. KHAROR
All India Coordinated Research Project on Sorghum, Navasari Agricultural University,
Surat (Gujarat), India
ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research,
Hyderabad-500 030 (Telangana), India
All India Coordinated Research Project on Sorghum,
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : lalitasaini9990@gmail.com)
(Received : 27 November 2020; Accepted : 15 December 2020)

SUMMARY

A two-year (2018 and 2019) field study was conducted at All India Coordinated Research Project on Sorghum (AICRP on Sorghum) centre, Surat, Gujarat to assess the effect of three levels of each of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) i.e. 15, 30 and 45 kg/ha of P₂O₅ / K₂O in comparison to N alone fertilized control treatment on multicut forage sorghum (SSG 59-3). These treatments replicated thrice were evaluated in Randomized Block Design (RBD) in a deep clay soil that was medium for available K (207.2 kg/ha) and available P (21.3 kg/ha). Multicut forage sorghum crop performance measured in terms of dry fodder yield showed that application of P₄₅K₃₀ resulted in 83.8% improvement in dry fodder yields over no PK applied control (N alone) treatment and thus was promising to all other treatments. Crude protein and IVDMD values improved significantly with PK fertilization over control and highest crude protein (8.12 & 8.69%) and IVDMD (52.90 and 53.30%) values were recorded with P45K30 in both first and second cuts. However, based on net income and benefit cost ratio ( ` 87,781 and 3.91), application of P45K15 was promising. From the study it is concluded that in deep clay soils of Gujarat state, application of 45 kg P₂O₅ and 15 kg K₂O fertilizers along with 120 kg N is desired for realizing higher fodder yields and net incomes from multicut forage sorghum.

Key words:Fodder, Multi cut sorghum, Phosphorus, Potassium

261-265

RAM NIWAS*, VINAY KUMAR, O. P. SHEORAN AND YOGENDER KUMAR
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : rniwas@hau.ac.in)
(Received : 5 November 2020; Accepted : 22 December 2020)

SUMMARY

Development of barley cultivars that achieve high yields despite the short growing season is essential for increasing barley production in India. The present study focuses on characterizing the causal relationship between grain yield and various components characteristics using the structural equation modelling with latent variables in barley crop. The data on grain yield and its attributing characters on 87 genotypes of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) were taken for studying the relationships between them. A structural equation model that characterize the complex phenomenon and biological processes with less number of assumptions was used to study and describe the causal relationship between measured variables such as crop characteristics, crop phenology, canopy traits, yield and its components along with the latent variables.

Key words:Structural equation models, maximum likelihood estimation, latent variables

266-270

P. M. LAGAD, S. H. PATHAN, S. V. DAMAME* AND B. T. SINARE
Department of Agronomy
Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri-413 722,
District Ahmednagar (Maharashtra), India
*(e-mail : shivajidamame@gmail.com)
(Received: 28 October 2020; Accepted : 12 December 2020)

SUMMARY

A field experiment was carried out at Post Graduate Instructional Farm, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) during summer, 2018. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with nine treatments and three replications. The green fodder yield (589.83 q/ha) and dry matter yield (120.50 q/ha) were significantly higher under application of GRDF (Gross Recommended Dose of Fertilizers) along with foliar application of 2% urea at 40 days after sowing. The extent of expression of quality parameters such as crude fibre content (%), IVDMD were not significantly influenced by different treatments but crude protein yield (10.07 q/ha) and crude fibre yield (35.19 q/ha) were significantly higher under application of GRDF along with foliar application of 2% urea at 40 days after sowing. The application of GRDF along with foliar application of 2% urea at 40 days after sowing recorded significantly higher gross returns (Rs. 117966/ha) and net returns (Rs. 76620/ha).

Key words:Sorghum, green forage yield, crude protein, crude fibre, foliar nutrition, uptake, economics

271-273

S. MOBEENA*, C. NAGAMANI, G. PRABHAKARA REDDY AND V. UMAMAHESH
Department of Agronomy,
S. V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati-517 502 (A. P.), India
*(e-mail : mobeena.shaik2693@gmail.com)
(Received : 24 October 2020; Accepted : 22 December 2020)

SUMMARY

A field study was undertaken during summer, 2019 on sandy loam soils of S. V. Agricultural College, Tirupati to find out the optimum time of sowing and phosphorus level for maximizing the yield and quality of fodder cowpea. Three time of sowing viz., I FN (fortnight) of January, II FN of January and I FN of February assigned to main plots and four levels of phosphorus viz., 0, 20, 40 and 60 kg P₂O₅ per ha allotted to sub plots with three replications were maintained under split plot design. Higher leaf to stem ratio, green fodder yield, crude protein content and ash content were recorded with earlier sown crop i.e. I FN of January. Significantly higher leaf to stem ratio, green fodder yield, crude protein content and ash content was recorded with the application of 60 kg P₂O₅/ha. The highest crude fibre content was recorded with the later sown crop (I FN of February) followed by that with earlier sown crop viz., II FN of January and I FN of January. Significantly lower crude fibre content was recorded when the crop was supplied with 60 kg P₂O₅/ha and the highest crude fibre content was recorded with control. The interaction between time of sowing and phosphorus levels influencing all the parameters were found to be non-significant. In conclusion, the present investigation revealed that fodder cowpea gives optimum green fodder yield with high nutritional quality if sown during I FN of January with 60 kg P₂O₅/ha.

Key words:Cowpea, time of sowing, phosphorus

274-276

M. KALYANA CHAKRAVARTHI*, T. VENKATA PAVAN, V. SREEKAR, A. KRISHNAMURTHY, C. ANIL KUMAR, K. SUDHEER AND S. MOISE
Livestock Farm Complex, College of Veterinary Science, Proddatur
Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), India
*(e-mail : vetkalyan@gmail.com)
(Received : 3 August 2020; Accepted : 5 December 2020)

SUMMARY

The objective of the study was to assess the effect of dietary incorporation of hydroponics maize fodder as a replacement of concentrate mixture on the growth performance of New Zealand White rabbits. The study was conducted at Livestock Farm Complex, College of Veterinary Science, Proddatur wherein 18 weaned rabbits were allotted randomly into 3 groups with each group consisting of 6 rabbits, namely control (100 % concentrate mixture), treatment-1 (100 % hydroponic maize fodder), treatment-2 (50 % concentrates and 50 % hydroponic fodder) groups in a completely randomized design. Feed intake of all rabbits were recorded daily, where as the body weights were recorded at weekly interval. Growth parameters such as body weight (g), body weight gain/week (g), average daily gain (g), dry matter intake (g), feed efficiency and economics such as the cost of feeding /animal and cost of feeding/g body weight in these 3 groups were studied. Treatment -2 comprising of 50 % replacement of concentrates with 50 % hydroponics maize fodder has shown significant increase in body weight gain/week (93.13±6.04g), average daily gain (13.30±0.86g) when compared to treatment-1 and control group and decrease in dry matter intake (31.79±0.39g) when compared with control group. Cost of feeding /animal/70 days (39.72 INR) and Cost of feeding/g body weight (0.04 INR ) was found to be lower in treatment-1 when compared with treatment-2 and control group.

Key words:Hydroponic maize fodder, New Zealand White rabbit, growth performance

277-279

BAJRANG LAL SHARMA, S. S. YADAV, D. S. PHOGAT AND G. SHYAM PRASAD
Forage Section,
Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar-125 004 (Haryana), India
ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad-500 030 (Telangana), India
*(e-mail : bl_antela@rediffmail.com)
(Received: 16 December 2020; Accepted: 31 December 2020)

SUMMARY

Forty six sorghum genotypes along with resistant, susceptible and local checks were screened for resistance against shoot fly and spotted stem borer at Forage section, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar during Kharif, 2019. Per cent dead hearts caused by shoot fly and Stem borer were recorded at 28 and 45 days after emergence respectively, under natural field conditions. Nine genotypes namely, CSH 40F, CSV 21F, SPV 2704, SPV 2591, SPV 2582, SPV 2587, SPV 2581, SPV 2584 and SPV 2593 showed resistant in terms of minimum per cent dead hearts caused by Atherigona soccata and Chilo partellus.

Key words:Sorghum, screening, insect-pest resistance, dead heart, stem borer stalk tunneling

280-283

WASEEM RAJA*, M. ANWAR BHAT, B. A. ALLIE, RAES A. BHAT, TAHIR A. SHEIKH, INTIKHAB ALLAM JAHINGIR, ASHIQ HUSSAIN4 AND F. A. BAHAR
Division of Agronomy Faculty of Agriculture, Wadura,
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir, India
ARSSSS, Pampore, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir, India
KVK, Kupwar, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir, India
MRCFC Khudwani, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir, India
*(e-mail : waseemra1@gmail.com)
(Received : 20 December 2020; Accepted: 31 December 2020)

SUMMARY

Remunerative and higher fodder production is important for livestock production. In this perspective a field experiment was undertaken at Agronomy farm, FoA, Wadura of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir during Kharif 2018 and 2019 to study the influence of row spacing and seed rate on productivity and economics of forage soybean. The experiment comprising of three row spacing (20 cm, 30 cm and 40 cm) and three seed rates (50 kg/ha, 75 kg/ha and 100 kg/ha) laid out in a factorial randomized complete block design with three replications. Row spacing of 30 cm and seed rate of 75 kg/ha recorded higher growth and green fodder production of soybean. The same treatments were also found economically viable in north western Himalayas.

Key words:Forage soybean, row spacing, seed rate, fodder yield and economics

284-286