Exogenous application of gibberellic acid and selenium to endorse quality and yield of fodder maize under rainfed conditions

Abstract

Good quality and economical availability of fodder could be a substitute for crop production in the farming system of dryland areas. In Pakistan, the increasing demands of fodder crops for animal feed require immediate attention to find viable options for fodder production. Additionally, climate change, land detritions, and imbalanced use of chemicals led to an agro-ecological imbalance which needs to focus on mitigation strategies and practices. Therefore, the experiment was conducted three different rainfed areas of Punjab with aims to increase fodder maize quality by application of Gibberellic acid (GA3) and Selenium (Se) to overcome the forage scarcity issue in rainfed areas. The highest fresh biomass and leaf area were recorded by the application of GA75+Se0.75 followed by GA50+Se0.50 at 60 DAS. Similarly, the data about the silage quality traits indicated that more total dry matter (TDM), TDN, Crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), Crude fiber (CF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), ash contents (AC) were recorded in Afgoi compared to Sohni Dhart 623. Among the experimental locations, the highest TDM, TDN, NDF, ADF and AC were found for the crop planted at NARC followed by URF, Koont and the least values of these traits were recorded for GRS, Attock. Among the different combinations of growth regulators, the highest TDM, TDN, CF, CP and NDF were recorded for GA75+Se0.75 followed by GA50+Se0.50. The above findings conclude that exogenously application of GA75+Se0.75 plays a promising role in the improvement of fodder growth and quality parameters of silage in Afgoi verity at different water stress agro-ecological zones.