Fodder yield and quality of rhodes grass-alfalfa mixtures as affected by sowing rates in Makkah region

Abstract EN

This research was conducted at the Agriculture Research Station, Hada Al-Sham, K.A.U., to study the effects of different sowing ratios (proportions) of Alfalfa, (Medicago sativa.) - Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) (100:0, 0:100, 50:50, 75:25, and 25:75, respectively) on green fodder yield and quality, to compare the yield and quality of alfalfa and Rhodes grass fodder, sown alone and in mixtures, and finally to determine the suitable mixture ratio of both under Makkah region ecological conditions.

The results showed that the number of plants per two meters row was influenced by different sowing ratios of alfalfa and Rhodes grass.

Plant heights, number of leaves and fresh weight per plant were also significantly affected by different ratios.

Leaves fresh and dry weights also showed high significant differences among the different sowing ratios.

Sowing ratio of 100: 0 (alfalfa: Rhodes) gave the highest number of plants/2m row (238.9 plants/2m row), the lowest plant heights (29.003cm), the maximum number of leaves (67.27 leaves/plants), the lowest fresh weight per plant (3.16g/plant) and the lowest leaves fresh weights (1.08g).

Moreover, sowing ratio of0:100(alfalfa: Rhodes) was recorded to have the highest plant heights (87.25cm), the lowest number of leaves (20.8 leaves/plants), the maximum fresh weight per plant (17.16g) and the highest leaves fresh weight (5.5g).

The highest green fodder and dry fodder yield (1615.94 kg/ha) and (159.89 kg/ha) respectively were recorded for sowing ratio of 100% Rhodes grass.

The lowest dry matter percentage was also observed for alfalfa sown alone, with high significant differences with all other sowing ratios.

The crude protein (CP) (%), crude fiber (CF) (%) and ash contents (%) were significantly affected by the different sowing ratios.

Alfalfa fodder (100%) contained the highest crude protein content (17.17%), and ash % (10.0%), while the highest crude fiber (%) was produced from the mixture of 75% and 100% Rhodes grass with values of 17.99% and 17.3% respectively.