Influence of Tillage Systems and Cereals–Legume Mixture on Fodder Yield, Quality and Net Returns under Rainfed Conditions

Sunyad Sohail, Muhammad Ansar, Milan Skalicky, Allah Wasaya, Walid Soufan, Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir, Ahmed M. El-Shehawi, Marian Brestic, Mohammad Sohidul Islam, Muhammad Ali Raza and Ayman EL Sabagh
Additional contact information
Sunyad Sohail: Department of Agronomy, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Muhammad Ansar: Department of Agronomy, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan
Milan Skalicky: Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165-00 Prague, Czech Republic
Allah Wasaya: College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bahadur Sub-Campus Layyah, Layyah 31200, Pakistan
Walid Soufan: Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir: College of Agriculture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Bahadur Sub-Campus Layyah, Layyah 31200, Pakistan
Ahmed M. El-Shehawi: Department of Biotechnology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
Marian Brestic: Department of Botany and Plant Physiology, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 165-00 Prague, Czech Republic
Mohammad Sohidul Islam: Department of Agronomy, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, Dinajpur 5200, Bangladesh
Muhammad Ali Raza: College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Ayman EL Sabagh: Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafrelehikh University, Kafr Elsheikh 33511, Egypt

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Livestock development in rainfed areas is slower due to the inadequate supply of nutritious fodder. Mono-cropping systems also have a negative impact on forage yield and nutrition as cereals are deficient in protein. Hence, there is a dire need to grow cereals with legumes to improve forage yield and quality. Therefore, a two-year field study was undertaken to evaluate winter cereal–legume forage and their mixtures viz. oats (cv. PD 2 -LV 65 ), barley (Jau-86) and one legume viz. vetch (cv. Languedock) under different tillage systems viz. conventional tillage (moldboard plow+4-cultivation with tines) and conservation tillage (3-cultivation with tines). Crops were grown in pure stands as well as in mixtures with a 70:30 seeding ratio. The results revealed that the conventional tillage system performed better in terms of numbers of tillers/branches, leaf-to-stem ratio and green fodder yield than the conservation tillage system. However, the conventional and conservation tillage systems did not show a significant difference in terms of crude protein, acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber. In the pure stands and cereal–legume mixtures, the oat–vetch mixture performed better in terms of plant height, leaf-to-stem ratio and green fodder yield. The maximum crude protein content was observed in the oat–vetch mixture, while the maximum acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber were observed in the pure oat stands. In competitive indices, the land-equivalent ratio and competitive ratio showed the advantage of intercropping. In actual yield loss, results showed the positive value of barley and oats in mixtures, which reflects the advantage of intercropping in the rainfed areas. The economic analysis showed a greater net benefit from the conventional tillage than the conservation tillage system under rainfed conditions. On the basis of this investigation, an oat–vetch mixture and the conventional tillage system are recommended for higher tonnage of nutritious fodder in rainfed areas.

Keywords: tillage systems; cereal–legume mixture; fodder yield; acid detergent fiber; land-equivalent ratio (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2172/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2172/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2172-:d:501221

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().