1Department of Animal Nutrition, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Science University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India.
2ICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India.
*Corresponding Author: M.P.S. Bakshi, Department of Animal Nutrition, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Science University, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India. Email: bakshimps2@gmail.com
This study was taken up to assess the effect of time of sowing and number of irrigations on the yield of maize cultivar J-1006 and to see their impact on the nutritive value of fresh and ensiled fodder.
Maize cultivar J-1006 was sown at 50 cm row to row and 10 cm plant to plant spacing at 10 days interval in quintuplicate. The crop was harvested after 80–85 days of sowing. The J-1006 on the first date of sowing (B1) was given one irrigation and rest of the sowings (B2-B5) received two irrigations till harvest. The nutritive value (NV) of fresh and ensiled maize fodder was assessed by in vitro gas production (IVGP) technique.
Highest biological, DM and protein yield was recorded in B2 maize fodder while the lowest was recorded in B5. The cell wall constituents were the highest (P<0.01) in B1 and the lowest in B5 fodder resulting in highest (P<0.01) microbial biomass production (MBP) and the NV in B5 maize fodder. Irrespective of time of sowing, OM, NDF and hemicellulose contents were reduced (P<0.01) in ensiled maize fodder. The net gas production (NGP; P<0.01) and ME (P<0.05) were depressed and the total and individual VFAs and MBP were improved (P<0.01) in the ensiled maize. Irrespective of processing, the maize given two irrigations resulted in higher (P<0.01) MBP and NV as comparison to that given single irrigation. It was concluded that B5 maize fodder with the lowest yield given two irrigations had the best nutritive value.
Ensiling, Irrigations, Maize cultivar, Production potential, Sowing time
