Survey the potential of halophytes as livestock forage (Case study: rangelands of Houze Sultan-Qom)

Adnani, Seyed Mahdi; Tatian, Mohammad Reza; Zandi Esfahan, Ehsan; Tamartash, Reza; Bagheri, Hosein

doi:10.22092/ijrdr.2020.121767

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor, Forests and Rangelands Research Department, Qom Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Qom, Iran

² Faculty Member of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Science and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Rangeland Research division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

⁴ Associated Professor, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Science and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22092/ijrdr.2020.121767

Abstract

Important and influential factors on livestock production in arid areas are limited water resources, increasing salinity and lack of food. Halophytes are especially important in saline habitats as alternative forage sources. Forage quality is one of the main factors determining the nutritional requirements of livestock and subsequently the grazing capacity of rangelands. Determination of forage quality of rangeland species is one of the fundamental factors for proper rangeland management. The quality of forage varies in different places and times and different factors affect it. Awareness of forage quality of halophytes at each phenological stage, not only helps beneficiaries in arid and desert areas to select suitable plant species for planting in haloculture programs, but also sets the appropriate time for grazing to achieve greater livestock performance in saline lands. In the present study, the effects of phenological stages on eight forage quality traits were investigated for three halophytes ie., Halocnemum strobilaceum, Nitraria schoberi and Suaeda aegyptiaca. Plant samples were collected in vegetative, flowering, and seeding stages from saline lands in the margin of Houze Sultan, Qom province. Data were analyzed by a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design. Duncan mean comparison test was performed. The results showed that the effects of species and phenological stages on forage quality were significant (p < /em><0.01). In general, the results of this study indicated the superiority of Ha. strobilaceum in terms of nutritional value compared to Ni. schoberi and Su. aegyptiaca, so that it can be considered as a new source of forage in the lands affected by salinity.

Keywords

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Survey the potential of halophytes as livestock forage (Case study: rangelands of Houze Sultan-Qom)

References

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Volume 27, Issue 2June 2020Pages 215-223

Volume 27, Issue 2
June 2020
Pages 215-223