Atefeh Shahbazi; hamid matin khah; Hosein Bashari; mostafa Tarkesh esfahani
Volume 23, Issue 4 , March 2017, , Pages 823-823
Abstract
Understanding the forage quality of native species is important to identify the valuable species for range improvement and reclamation as well as determining the appropriate grazing time and rangeland grazing capacity. In the present study, plant sampling was performed for Astragalus cyclophyllon and ...
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Understanding the forage quality of native species is important to identify the valuable species for range improvement and reclamation as well as determining the appropriate grazing time and rangeland grazing capacity. In the present study, plant sampling was performed for Astragalus cyclophyllon and Hedysarum criniferum at three phenological stages (vegetative growth, flowering and seeding) in Chadegan- Isfahan. The samples collected were dried, grounded and analyzed to determine the forage quality. Data were analyzed in a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with two treatments and three replications. According to the results, the chemical composition and forage quality of the study species varied significantly (p < 0/05). The Crude Protein (CP), Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD) and Metabolism Energy (ME) contents in both species showed a decreasing trend with the development of phenological stages. H. criniferum had higher contents of CP, DMD and ME as compared with A. cyclophyllon in all the growth stages. Our results clearly showed that the study species could be classified as desirable species because of their high nutrition values. Conservation of the species such as these two legumes with a low distribution and high nutrition values as compared with alfalfa is critically important. Therefore, domestication of these two species is highly recommended to supply a part of forage for livestock.