Herbage production, nutritional composition and quality of teosinte under Fe fertilization.

Animal husbandry is integral part of subsistence farming for small holder farmers but non availability of good quality fodder for feeding to the livestock is major hurdle for dairy industry in South Asia. Micronutrients such as Fe deficiency in soil affect yield and quality of forage crops severely. This study was conducted for two consecutive years (2012 and 2013) to examine the effect of foliar spray of FeSO4 on the development, herbage yield, nutritive composition and quality of teosinte grown in Fe deficient alkaline field. The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block Design with set of seven treatments viz. two foliar sprays of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% FeSO4 at 30, 37 DAS and three foliar sprays of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% FeSO4 at 30, 37 and 44 DAS. An additional treatment with recommended dose of fertilizer along with foliar spray of deionized water was kept as control. The results of this study revealed an increase of 29.6 to 32.6% in green herbage yield (GHY) and 53.3 to 60.8% in dry matter yield (DMY) with 1.0 and 2.0% foliar sprays of FeSO4 at 30, 37 and 44 DAS over control. Fe foliar spray enhanced nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potash (K) and iron (Fe) content of herbage, however Mn content decreased due to antagonism. Increased herbage quality and estimated digestibility parameters like crude protein (CP), total digestible nutrients (TDN), digestible dry matter (DDM), digestible crude protein (DCP), dry matter intake (DMI), relative feed value (RFV), relative forage quality (RFQ), net energy for lactation (NEL), digestible feed energy (DFE) and reduction in fibers were recorded with three 1.0% foliar sprays of Fe. Gross return, net field benefit (NFB), benefit cost ratio of teosinte crop improved with foliar Fe application. Maximum rate of returns (400%) were recorded with three 1.0% FeSO4 at 30, 37 and 44 DAS. Thus, we conclude that three foliar sprays of 1.0% FeSO4 enhanced the teosinte growth, yield and quality which will certainly improve livestock production. © 2016 Friends Science Publishers

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