Farhad Aghajanlou; Morteza Akbarzadeh; ahmad mousavi; Parviz Moradi
Volume 28, Issue 4 , November 2021, , Pages 614-630
Abstract
Rangelands capacity depends on several factors, including the amount of forage production. Forage production varies during the grazing period and different years. The goal of determining grazing capacity is to estimate the forage production within the grazing period. This project was carried out over ...
Read More
Rangelands capacity depends on several factors, including the amount of forage production. Forage production varies during the grazing period and different years. The goal of determining grazing capacity is to estimate the forage production within the grazing period. This project was carried out over a period of 4 years (2006-2010) to determine forage production and consumption at different stages of growth. For this purpose, at the beginning of grazing season, the amount of forage remaining after grazing until the exit time of livestock was harvested at one-month intervals. Forage production was measured within the enclosed and adjacent area, and the amount of consumption of each species was determined. The collected data were analyzed based on a completely randomized design. The combined analysis of variance showed that production was significantly different (P<0.01) in years and months of the growing season. The highest amount of production was recorded in 2009 and the lowest in 2008. The ratio of forage produced in unfavorable to favorable years was 50%. In other words, forage production in 2009 was double that of 2008. This ratio was 13% to 79% among species. The peak of monthly rangeland production was in June and was the same for most species. The average rangelands production at the four-year study was about 650 kg/ha, and the contribution of three species Festuca ovina, Bromus tomentellus, and Tanacetum polycephalum were 24%, 20%, and 11%, respectively. The highest forage consumption was recorded in July and then in August. On average, about 71% of forage production was consumed during the grazing season. The lowest and the highest forage consumption was observed for Phlomis olivier (37%) and Silene ampullata (100%), respectively.
Abbasali Sanadgol
Volume 10, Issue 3 , September 2019, , Pages 321-338
Hamid Alipor; Mahsa Pakdin; Saeedeh nateghi; Ali Dastranj; Seyedeh Negar Hashemi
Volume 23, Issue 2 , September 2016, , Pages 329-322
Abstract
Studying the forage quality of range species is among the important factors required for range management. In the present study, the forage quality of range species including Onobrychis transcaspica, Onobrychis radiate, Astragalus brevidens, Melica ciliate, Agropyron pectiniforme, and Sangisorba minor ...
Read More
Studying the forage quality of range species is among the important factors required for range management. In the present study, the forage quality of range species including Onobrychis transcaspica, Onobrychis radiate, Astragalus brevidens, Melica ciliate, Agropyron pectiniforme, and Sangisorba minor were investigated at three phenological stages. The study was conducted in the rangelands of Bojnourd. At each phenological stage, sampling was performed randomly with five replicates. Forage quality indices including CP, ADF, DMD, and ME were measured in the laboratory. The results showed that the forage quality of the study species was higher as compared with flowering and seeding stages, so that with the advancing age of the plant, crude protein, dry matter digestibility, and metabolizable energy reduced and ADF increased. In comparison with grasses, Legumes had the highest CP content (14.53% and the lowest ADF content (43.91%) in all three phenological stages. Among the study species, the maximum and minimum crude protein content was recorded for Astragalus brevidens and Agropyron pectiniforme, respectively. Analysis of variance showed that the effects of species and phenological stages were significant (P<0.01) in all forage quality indices.
Daryoush Ghorbanian; Ehsan Zandi Esfahan; Mohamad Amirjan
Volume 23, Issue 1 , June 2016, , Pages 177-187
Abstract
Aellenia subaphylla is a perennial plant species and resistant to drought and salinity, distributed in the winter rangelands and at the margins of the interior deserts such as Damghan desert. In early autumn that available forage is reduced in rangelands, this species produces a considerable forage in ...
Read More
Aellenia subaphylla is a perennial plant species and resistant to drought and salinity, distributed in the winter rangelands and at the margins of the interior deserts such as Damghan desert. In early autumn that available forage is reduced in rangelands, this species produces a considerable forage in addition to a good annual growth. To study the forage quality of Aellenia subaphylla at three growth stages of vegetative, flowering and seeding stages, the branches of 10 species were randomly sampled with three replications. Then the samples were dried and milled. Six forage quality traits including DMD, WSC, CP, CF, ME and ADF were measured. The average of DMD, CP, CF, WSC, Ash, ME, and ADF were estimated to be 35.14%, 17.35%, 40.93%, 13.9%, 6.58%, 3.97 MJ kg-1 dry matter, and 60.45%, respectively. The results of ANOVA and mean comparisons of the traits studied indicated that the forage quality of Aellenia subaphylla was affected by phenological stages. The highest and the lowest CP content were observed at flowering and seeding stages, respectively. The minimum amount of CP for most domestic or wild herbivores for maintenance is reported to be 7.5%. Therefore, this species could supply the CP requirements of livestock. In the flowering stage, ADF and CP increased significantly while a significant reduction was observed in CF, indicating that flowering stage could be recommended for forage utilization. In addition, the average values of DMD, WSC and ME at seeding stage were significantly higher than those of vegetative and flowering stages. Therefore, seeding stage could also be recommended for livestock nutrition. Our results clearly showed that the best time for forage utilization of Aellenia subaphylla, distributed widely in the winter rangelands, was consistent with flowering and seeding stages. On the other hand, this species produces a large amount of seeds, increasing the forage quality at seeding stage. Given that the forage quality of the species studied here was acceptable during flowering and seeding stages, a proper use of this species could be taken into consideration for livestock feed through a sound range management.
Hosein Arzani; Javad Moetamedi; Seyed Ali Hoseini
Volume 21, Issue 4 , March 2015, , Pages 651-662
Abstract
Knowledge of forage quality is of paramount importance for livestock and rangeland management. For this purpose, the forage quality of range species was investigated in summer rangelands of Saraliabad, Golestan province to meet daily animal unit requirement. In the present study, 12 rangeland species ...
Read More
Knowledge of forage quality is of paramount importance for livestock and rangeland management. For this purpose, the forage quality of range species was investigated in summer rangelands of Saraliabad, Golestan province to meet daily animal unit requirement. In the present study, 12 rangeland species including Achillea millifolium, Agropyron trichophorum, Centurea zuvandica, Crepis khorassanica, Koeleria cristata, Medicago sativa, Poa angustifolia, Taraxacum brevidens, Thymus transcaspicus, Tragopogon graminifolius, Trifolium repens and Artemisia aucheri were sampled at three different phenological stages (vegetative, flowering and seeding) in 2009. In each stage, three samples and for each sample three individuals were cut. Then, forage quality indices were calculated. Results showed that the crude protein values at all growth stages were higher than the critical level (7.0%) to meet daily animal unit requirement. In addition, dry matter digestibility values in vegetative and flowering stages were higher than the critical level (50%) to meet daily animal unit requirement, contrary to the seeding stage. Metabolisable energy values in vegetative stage were higher and in flowering and seeding stages were lower than the critical level (8Mj) to meet daily animal unit requirement. Our results clearly showed that the forage quality of range species varied at different growth stages, indicating that daily animal unit requirement need be determined based on forage quality. The results of this study could be used in determining the daily animal unit requirement in different years since measuring forage quality is costly.
majid dashti; Ali ashraf Jafari; hamed zarif ketabi; farideh saghafi khadem
Volume 22, Issue 4 , March 2015, , Pages 683-694
Abstract
In order to determine the effects of phenological stages and the best harvesting time for yield and quality traits in Elymus hispidus (var. hispidus var. podperae var.villosus), an experiment was conducted in Cisab Research Station, Northern Khorasan, Iran during 2005-2006. The seeds of varieties were ...
Read More
In order to determine the effects of phenological stages and the best harvesting time for yield and quality traits in Elymus hispidus (var. hispidus var. podperae var.villosus), an experiment was conducted in Cisab Research Station, Northern Khorasan, Iran during 2005-2006. The seeds of varieties were sown in a randomized completely block design (RCBD) with three replications under dryland farming system. Forage yield was cut at six phenological stages including vegetative, stemmy, ear emergence, milky, soft dough seeds and maturity. Dry matter (DM) yield and five quality traits including Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD), Water Soluble Carbohydrates (WSC), Crude Protein (CP), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) and total Ash were estimated using Near Infra-Red spectroscopy (NIRS). Data were analyzed using a split-plot in time design. Results showed significant differences for all traits among the phenological stages. DMD, CP, and ash were highest when the plants were immature and tend to drop sharply as the plants go to soft dough stage. In contrast, the average values of ADF and DM yield increased from vegetative to soft dough stage. WSC values were inconsistent over different phenological stages. Var. villosus with average values of 50.3, 16.3, and 10.1 percent for DMD, CP, and WSC, respectively had higher quality as compared with other two varieties. Var. hispidus with average values of 1433 Kg/ha DM yield had higher production as compared with two other varieties. However, its quality was low. The results showed that the highest digestible yield and protein yield were obtained in ear emergence stage for varieties. The results of correlation analysis showed positive and significant relationship between DMD and both CP and ASH. Whereas, ADF and same traits was negatively correlated. The correlation between DM yield and WSC with both DMD and CF was low and inconsistent over six phenological stages.
Seyed Ali Hoseini; Mansour Mesdaghi; Serkis Pambukhchyan
Volume 21, Issue 2 , August 2014, , Pages 189-197
Abstract
Determination of forage quality is one of the fundamental factors for suitable management. There are spatial and temporal variations in quality of rangeland species. In this study, forage quality of five important grasses of Bromus tomentellus, Poa angustifolia, Festuca ovina, Agropyron ...
Read More
Determination of forage quality is one of the fundamental factors for suitable management. There are spatial and temporal variations in quality of rangeland species. In this study, forage quality of five important grasses of Bromus tomentellus, Poa angustifolia, Festuca ovina, Agropyron intermedium and Agropyron trichophorum were measured at three phenological stages (vegetative growth, full flowering and seed ripening) in summer rangelands of Golestan province. For this purpose, five replications were randomly selected from each phenological stage. Quality factors of crude protein, ADF, crude fiber, dry matter digestibility and metabolizable energy were measured using in vitro procedures. The results obtained from chemical analysis were analyzed in a factorial experiment at randomized complete block design with SAS software. Results showed that forage quality differed significantly for different species as well as at different phenological stages (p<0.05). Among studied species, the highest forage quality was related to Bromus tomentellus while the lowest was related to Agropyron trichophorum. The highest and the lowest forage quality were recorded for vegetative growth and seed ripening stages, respectively.
Seyed Akbar Javadi; Shadi Mohamad pori naeem; Hossein Arzani; Ahmad Ahmadi
Volume 19, Issue 4 , March 2013, , Pages 571-580
Abstract
Determination of forage quality of rangeland species is one of the fundamental factors for evaluation of grazing capacity and management of rangelands. In this study, forage quality of Agropyron libanoticum was compared in three phenological stages in Nejh valley, Urmia. After sampling, quality indices ...
Read More
Determination of forage quality of rangeland species is one of the fundamental factors for evaluation of grazing capacity and management of rangelands. In this study, forage quality of Agropyron libanoticum was compared in three phenological stages in Nejh valley, Urmia. After sampling, quality indices such as ADF, CP, ME and DMD were measured in laboratory. Results showed that there were significant differences among the growth stages (at 1 % level of probability). Forage quality of vegetative growth stage was higher than that of flowering and seed ripening stages. Crude protein content decreased from early growth to the end of growth and there was significant difference among vegetative growth stage and flowering as well as seed ripening stage.
Ghasemali Dianati Tilaki; Maryam Haidarian Aghakhani; Esmaeil Filehkesh; Ali asghar Naghipour Borj
Volume 18, Issue 4 , September 2012, , Pages 652-661
Abstract
Determination of forage quality of range plants is one of the fundamental factors for evaluating grazing capacity. There are spatial and temporal variations in forage quality of range species. In this study, samples from two halophyte species including Salsola arbuscula and Salsola richteri were collected ...
Read More
Determination of forage quality of range plants is one of the fundamental factors for evaluating grazing capacity. There are spatial and temporal variations in forage quality of range species. In this study, samples from two halophyte species including Salsola arbuscula and Salsola richteri were collected at three phenological stages of vegetative growth, full flowering and seed dissemination with three replications at research station of Poshteh Abbas Sabzevar. The quality indices of acid detergent fiber (ADF), crude fiber (CF), crud protein (CP), metabolic energy (ME), dry matter digestibility (DMD) and soluble carbohydrate (WSC) were measured or estimated. Analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test were used for data analysis. The results indicated that forage quality of both species in vegetative growth was higher than the other stages. Forage quality indices and water soluble carbohydrates were significantly different at different phenological stages and between the species (P<0.05). Salsola richteri had a better forage quality than Salsola arbuscula in all phenological stages. Considering the result of this research, the second stage (flowering) was determined as the most suitable period for livestock grazing. Because at this time, forage quality and soluble carbohydrate of plant are desirable for grazing and grazing will cause less damage to plants.
Taghi Mirhaji; Abbas ali Sanadgol
Volume 13, Issue 3 , February 2006, , Pages 212-221
Abstract
The phenological stages of five species Festuca ovina, Koeleria macrantha, Koeleria phleoides, Melica cupani and Melica jacquemntii were studied for three years(2003-2005) in Homand-e-abesard rangeland research station, in 70 km east of Tehran. Annual life cycle of plants were divided into two ...
Read More
The phenological stages of five species Festuca ovina, Koeleria macrantha, Koeleria phleoides, Melica cupani and Melica jacquemntii were studied for three years(2003-2005) in Homand-e-abesard rangeland research station, in 70 km east of Tehran. Annual life cycle of plants were divided into two large periods, more active and less active phases. data were recorded in the first phase every 7 days and in the second phase every 15 days. The Growth degree-days(GDD) were calculated for each phenological stages. 20 stands of each species were studied. The phenological stages include: growth initiation(gi), vegetative growth(vg), heading out(ho), full flowering(ff), seed ripening(sr), seed maturity(sm), temporary dormancy(td) and regrowth. The result showed that the five species started their growth from early March and dried in late July. There was dormancy for late August to early October and a regrowth stage from late November to late December. The Growth degree days were calculated for each phenological stage of 5 species in the different years. The result showed no GDD variation for the same phenological stages between years.