Productivity and Quality of Diverse Ripe Pasture Grass Fodder Depends on the Method of Soil Cultivation

Uliana Karbivska,Oleksandr Tkachenko,Andrii Chyrva,Valentyna Gamayunova,Viktor Onychko,Volodymyr Kurgak,Lesia Malynka,Ihor Masyk,Ihor Kovalenko,Elina Zakharchenko,Olena Pshychenko,Andrii Butenko

doi:10.5586/aa.7334

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the influence of soil cultivation method on the productivity and quality of pasture grass fodder. We found that increasing the depth of cultivation from 8–10 cm to 20–22 cm (using surface tillage with disk implements) improved the productivity of all the grass species studied – Phleum pratense, Lolium perenne, Festuca orientalis, Dactylis glomerata, Bromus inermis, Phalaris arundinacea, Festuca rubra – by an average of 2%–3% at an LSD05 of 0.30 t ha−1, over a period of 3 years. On average, the most important factor influencing the production of 1 ha of dry mass appeared to be the species of grass, accounting for 57% of the variation. The depth of soil tillage was also important, accounting for 43% of the variation. Of all the species studied, the highest productivity was exhibited by Lolium perenne (0.35 t ha−1 of dry weight). Increasing the soil cultivation depth led to an increase in the content of crude protein and albumen (0.9%–1.1%). According to the analysis of organic matter content and digestibility of the fodder, across the different depths of soil cultivation, the early ripening species Dactylis glomerata, and the average ripening species Festuca orientalis, Lolium perenne, and Bromus inermis, performed best. Considering the different depths of soil cultivation, Lolium perenne [154 g; surface tillage (disking) 8–10 cm] and Festuca orientalis (152 g; ploughing 20–22 cm) provided the most fodder units with digestible protein.

Highlights

Production of large quantities of meadow fodder at low cost requires intensive cultivation of high yielding, multicut, and high-quality sown meadow grasses
We studied the influence of soil cultivation methods on the productivity and feeding value of perennial pasture grasses in different degrees of ripeness
Cultivated under the same soil conditions, the late ripening grass, Phleum pratense, was characterized by an average level of productivity, and produced 0.34–1.12 t ha−1 of dry mass, which was 6%–20% less than that produced by Lolium perenne, Dactylis glomerata, Festuca orientalis, Bromus inermis, and Phalaris arundinacea

Summary

Introduction

Production of large quantities of meadow fodder at low cost requires intensive cultivation of high yielding, multicut, and high-quality sown meadow grasses. Previous studies have shown that the use of high yielding grasses when applying intensive care and usage cultivation techniques can reliably improve the productivity of meadow land by 1.5–2.0-fold and can significantly improve the quality of fodder compared to traditional single- and dual-cut methods (Kurgak, 2010; Tester & Langridge, 2010). The inclusion of legumes as components of meadow phytocenosis can improve fodder productivity and can serve as an effective method of increasing the crude protein content of feed (Cordeau et al, 2017; Ding et al, 2014; Sobko et al, 2012; Tilman et al, 2011). The nutritional conditions of the soil and intensity of soil cultivation determine the mineral composition of the feed (Butenko et al, 2019; Lipińska et al, 2018; Prorochenko, 2017; SantínMontanyá et al, 2016; Shiferaw et al, 2011; Tsyhanskyi et al, 2019; Vasileva, 2012)

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