Biomass production and nutritional characteristics of quinoa subjected to cutting and sowing date in the midwestern China

Abstract

AbstractThere is an increasing demand for forage supply to feed domestic animals with the rapid development of livestock husbandry. In adverse environments where plant growth is largely restricted, new forage crops are urgently needed to provide other forage source. Quinoa has a strong potential to be a forage crop in the midwestern China. We explored the responses of quinoa to sowing and cutting date to assess its potential as a forage crop. Cutting treatments with four cutting dates were designed as cutting at bud formation, 15 days after bud formation, flowering and grain filling stages at Zhangye and Qingyang sites. For sowing date test, sowing of quinoa was performed on April 11 (Sap), June 10 (Sju) and August 11 (Sau) at Qingyang site. Dry matter yield, plant height and nutrient status under different treatments were measured. Total dry matter yield was about 7.0 t/ha at flowering stage, which was greater than those cutting at other stages and crude protein content was 16.0%. After cutting, nutrition status of quinoa tended to be improved, but the total biomass decreased significantly except that there was equaling biomass yield at Zhangye site when cutting was performed at 15 days after bud formation. Early sowing increased plant height (for Sap: 138 and 145 cm at flowering and maturity; for Sju: 119 and 113 cm) and biomass yield (7,402 kg/ha for Sap and 4,360 kg/ha for Sju at maturity), with little influence on the nutritional status of quinoa. It is suggested that quinoa has a great potential to be used as a forage crop in the midwestern China. In the practice, early sowing and cutting in late June are recommended to produce forage quinoa in these areas.