Full Length Research Paper

Effects of mowing utilization on forage yield and quality in five oat varieties in alpine area of the eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Wu Gao-Lin^1,2, Wang Mei-Ru^1,2, Gao Ting^1,2, Hu Tian-Ming²* and Grant Davidson³

¹State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau of Northwest A&F University, and Institute of Soil and Water Conservation of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.

²College of Animal Science & Technology of Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.

³Macaulay Institute of Land Use Research, Craigiebuckler Aberdeen AB15 8QH UK.

*Corresponding author: E-mail:  hutianming@126.com.

Accepted 15 December, 2009

   Abstract

Oat (Avena sativa) is grown to provide feed in winter for livestock production in the alpine area of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The effect of early cutting (T1), late cutting (T2) as well as once cutting and twice cutting (T3) on forage yields and qualities were investigated for five oat varieties (YTA, CNC, B3, Q473 and Q444). The cutting frequency and time significantly affected forage yield and quality of five varieties with the effects being different among the five varieties. T3 increased hay yield and crude protein yield than T2. The dry hay yield and crude protein yield of T2 were all significantly lower when compared to T1. YTA presented the maximum fresh grass yields, total hay yields and total crude protein yields under all cutting treatments among five varieties. T3 also improved feed quality on S/L ratio, F/D ratio, CP, CF and CA compared to T2 treatment. The results showed that utilization of two cuttings of oat artificial grasslands can be used to supply forage for livestock in alpine area. YTA is a good oat introduced variety which has higher hay yield and feeding quality even with two cuttings in alpine area.

Key words: Avena sativa L., mowing, yield, oat, quality, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.