Crop–Livestock Interaction for Improved Productivity: Effect of Selected Varieties of Field Pea (Pisum sativum L.) on Grain and Straw Parameters

Abstract

Straws from peas are richer in protein, calcium and magnesium than cereal straws, and if sustainably harvested, they are useful roughage feeds for ruminant animals. However, the available information on the nutritive and varietal effects on the dry matter (DM) yield of legume straws is scarce compared with that on cereal straws or grass hays despite the efforts to increase food production from peas. This study was therefore conducted with the objective of determining the chemical composition, digestibility and degradability of field pea (Pisum sativum L.) varieties. The study was conducted at Haramaya University Campus and Hirna Experimental Station, Ethiopia, during the 2011 cropping season. The experiment was established as a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications. Five selected varieties were grown: Tegenech, G22763-2C, Markos, Adi and Local pea. Among the parameters determined were the leaf to stem ratio, straw DM yield, harvest index (HI), potential utility index (PUI), chemical composition, in vitro DM, in sacco DM, organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) degradability. The result showed varietal differences in grain yield, straw DM yield and straw quality. This indicated the possibility of selecting for varieties that combine high grain yield and desirable straw characteristics. According to the result of the experiment, Tegenech was identified as having a high yields in grain and straw DM. Local pea at Haramaya and Tegenech at Hirna were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in PUI than the remaining varieties. The value of PUI ranged from 29.2 to 41.7. The varieties were significantly different in the in vitro DM degradability at Haramaya whereas there was no significant difference at Hirna. At Haramaya, the variety G22763-2C had significantly higher in vitro DM degradability than Tegenech and Adi. There were also significant differences among the varieties for the plant cell wall. Except for the rate of degradability there was significant difference (P < 0.001) among the varieties for DM degradability both at Haramaya and Hirna, OM and NDF degradability at Haramaya.