Performance of diverse fodder maize-legume combinations under rainfed conditions of Kashmir Bashir Moneesa1,*, Anasrul-Haq Syed2, Raja Waseem1, Bhat Mohammad Anwar3, Sheikh Tahir Ahmad1, Khan Inayat Mustafa4, Maqbool Showkat5, Bhat M. Ashraf6, Palmo Tsultim1, Jan Ulfat7 1Division of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, SKUAST-K, Wadura, Sopore 2Dryland Agricultural Research Station (DARS), SKUAST-K 3Directorate of Education, SKUAST-K, Shalimar 4Division-of Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry, SKUAST-K, Wadura, Sopore 5Division-of Agricultural Statistics, SKUAST-K, Wadura, Sopore 6Division of Biotechnology, SKUAST-K, Shalimar 7Division of Entomology, SKUAST-K, Wadura, Sopore *e-mail: moneesabashir@skuastkashmir.ac.in
Online published on 2 April, 2024. Abstract Sustainable livestock production depends upon the availability of green fodder crops as it is difficult to maintain the health and milk production of livestock without quality feed. Therefore, the present study was aimed to evaluate the growth of fodder maize and legume mixtures as influenced by various intercropping combinations and their effect on soil fertility status. The experimental findings revealed that plant growth parameters viz: plant height, leaf area index, leaf stem ratio and dry matter accumulation were recorded highest in case of sole maize. Highest green fodder yield was recorded in case of sole maize with dry fodder yield recorded in case of sole maize which was at par with Maize + Soybean (2:1). The soil pH, EC, OC, available N, P and K after the harvest of the experiment was statistically non-significant. However, N content of the soil after the experiment was highest in case of sole cropping of soybean and cowpea. Highest N content of the plant was recorded in case of sole cowpea; highest P content was recorded in case of sole maize; highest K content was recorded in case of sole soybean at par with sole cowpea while NPK uptakes were recorded highest in case of sole maize over sole cropping of cowpea and soybean. Besides, highest Crude protein content was found in fodder soybean at par with fodder sole cowpea. In conclusion, fodder maize grown as sole showed improvement in fodder growth parameters and yield compared to the rest of treatments. However, Forage equivalent yield of sole maize was higher yet, was comparable to the maize + soybean intercropped in 2:1 row proportion with lowest recorded in sole fodder cowpea. Top Keywords Fodder growth, Maize-legume intercropping, Sustainable. Top |