Determination of forage yield and quality of mixtures of hairy vetch with some cereals (oat, barley and wheat) grown as catch crop

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of mixture rates of hairy vetch with oat, barley and wheat on dry matter yield and its quality and to determine the suitable mixture when grown as catch crop at Uludag University, Faculty of Agriculture, Agricultural Research and Application Center, Bursa Turkey during 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 growing seasons. The experimental plant entries were Menemen-79 variety of hairy vetch, Faikbey cultivar of oat, Akhisar-98 cultivar of barley and Flamura cultivar of wheat. Nine mixtures (25 % oat: 75 % hairy vetch, 50 % oat: 50 % hairy vetch, 75 % oat: 25 % hairy vetch, 25 % barley: 75 % hairy vetch, 50 % barley: 50 % hairy vetch, 75 % barley: 25 % hairy vetch, 25 % wheat: 75 % hairy vetch, 50 % wheat: 50 % hairy vetch, 75 % wheat: 25 % hairy vetch) were used. Several parameters such as dry matter yield, leaf area index, light interception, crude protein content and yield; ADF (acid detergent fiber) and NDF (neutral detergent fiber) contents and relative feed value have been examined in the experiment. The highest dry matter yield was obtained from the mixtures of 50 % oat: 50 % hairy vetch (12 040 kg ha(-1)) and 75 % oat: 25 % hairy vetch (11 748 kg ha(-1)). According to the two-year results, the higher and quality hay yield (low in ADF and NDF values, high in relative feed value) was produced at 50 % oat: 50 % hairy vetch mixture, and this mixture have been proposed to the experimental conditions due to its suitability.