Biomass yield and nutrient content of dual purpose wheat in the fruit based cropping system in the North-Western mid-Himalaya ecosystem, India

Abstract

Livestock is an integral part of the hill ecosystem but due to the acute shortage of good sources of nutritious fodder during winter season, farmers face serious problems for livestock farming. The agri-horticulture system is an important agricultural practice where crops are grown under different fruit trees. It is widely practiced in the hilly ecosystem. The dual purpose wheat crop is capable of providing nutritious green fodder during the lean period mainly during the month of December-January, when it is most needed, with no detrimental impact on the eventual grain and straw yields. The VL Gehun 829 is one of the potential dual purpose wheat variety developed by the ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan which yielded 2.30 to 4.17 t ha−1 grain, 2.63 to 3.77 t ha-1 green fodder and 4.80 to 7.88 t ha-1 dry fodder under different fruit trees. Proximate composition of green fodder varied significantly under different fruit trees. Nutrient content of wheat green forage varied in dry matter (73.67–76.10%), crude protein (21.85–26.47%), crude ash (3.0–4.5%), crude fat (4.83–6.57%), crude fiber (13.10–15.87%), nitrogen free extractants (24.8–28.6%), total carbohydrate (38.37–43.21%) and total digestible nutrient (56.25–65.26%). Thus, this wheat cultivar (VL Gehun 829) can increase availability of nutritious green fodder for livestock rearing, which in turn can improve the prosperity of the hill farmers.