Yield and Quality of Forage Oat (<i>Avena sativa</i> L.) Cultivars as Affected by Seed Inoculation with Nitrogenous Strains

Abstract

Nitrogen availability can be enhanced with the application of nitrogen fixing bacteria and it may be helpful in increasing forage yield and improving quality of oat. Therefore, a field trial to evaluate the effect of seed inoculation with nitrogen fixing bacteria on forage yield and quality of oat was carried out at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during Rabi season 2013-14. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with factorial arrangements using three replications. The experiment was comprised of two integrated approaches. The first approach was oat cultivars consisting of four treatments, V1 (AVON), V2 (S-2000), V3 (S-2011) and V4 (PD2LV65) and the second approach was seed inoculation consisting of three treatments, S0 (control), S1 (Azotobacter spp.), S2 (Azospirillum spp.). Fisher’s analysis of variance technique was used for statistically interpretation of data by using least significant difference (LSD) test at 5% level of probability. Nitrogen fixing bacteria significantly affect the germination count (m2), plant height (cm), number of tillers (m2), number of leaves per tiller, leaf area per tiller (cm2), green forage yield (t·ha-1) and dry matter yield (t ha-1). The maximum green forage yield (85.2 t·ha-1), dry matter yield (14.1 t ·ha-1) and crude protein (11.5%) were recorded where Azotobacter inoculation was applied. The interaction between cultivars and nitrogenous strains was significant for green forage yield (t·ha-1), dry matter yield (t·ha-1) and crude protein (%). Conclusion showed that cultivar Sargodha-2011 which was inoculated with Azotobacter spp. gave higher forage yield of good quality.