Forage yield of orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata L.) under different fertility levels on a karewa upland of Kashmir Himalaya

Abstract

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with less than 4 % of its cultivable area under fodder crops, produces green fodder that is 30-40 % deficient than the demand. This shortage of fodder is the major cause of low productivity of the livestock in the hilly areas. Oat and berseem are the major fodder crops that are grown on about 25,000 hectares of land. Orchard grass or cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) is one of the important temperate perennial grasses with high productivity, forage quality, cold, drought and shade tolerance. Scanty information is available regarding the effect of nutrient management on forage productivity of orchard grass. Therefore, different fertility levels were evaluated to see the effect on different growth parameters and yield of Dactylis glomerata L. The study consisted of eight treatments: T1= NPK @ 100, 60, 40 kg/ha, T2= NPK @ 80, 45, 30 kg/ha, T3= NPK @ 60, 30, 20 kg/ha, T4= NPK @ 75 % 0f T1+ 25 % organic, T5= NPK @ 75 % of T2+ 25 % organic, T6= NPK @ 75 % of T3+ 25 % organic, T7= FYM @ 20 t/ha and T8= control (No fertilizer). Highest plant height (119.67 cm), number of tillers (484.33/m row), leaf-stem ratio (0.81), green fodder yield (21.43 t/ha) and dry fodder yield (7.97 t/ha) were recorded in the treatment T1 (NPK @ 100, 60, 40 kg/ha) followed by T2 and T4. Higher plant height, tiller number, leaf-stem ratio and consequently green and fodder yield in T1, T2 and T4 may be attributed to positive effect of fertilization particularly nitrogen and higher responsiveness of orchard grass to fertilization.