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Optimizing maize fodder production under water limited conditions is essential for sustainable livestock systems facing climate induced water stress and declining soil fertility. In this two-year field study, we investigated how deficit irrigation at different maize growth stages (VT-R3, R3-R6, VE-VT) in combination with potassium fertilization (0, 50 kg ha⁻¹) and bacteria inoculation (B-, B+) influences water use efficiency and the nutritional quality of maize fodder. Data was recorded on acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), crude protein (CP), ash, hemicellulose, biological yield, water use efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency. Irrigation timing exerted the strongest influence on most traits. Late season deficit irrigation (R3-R6) increased fiber accumulation (ADF and NDF), whereas early season deficit irrigation (VE-VT) consistently reduced fiber accumulation while improving crude protein content and irrigation water use efficiency. Full irrigation produced the highest biological yield, followed by early season deficit irrigation. Potassium fertilization enhanced crude protein content and water use efficiency, particularly under water limited conditions. Bacterial inoculation significantly improved crude protein concentration, biological yield, and both water use efficiency and irrigation water use efficiency, with more pronounced effects under deficit irrigation. Overall, the results indicate that early season deficit irrigation (VE-VT) combined with potassium supplementation and bacterial inoculation represents an effective integrated strategy to improve forage biomass production and water productivity in maize; however, these practices may also increase fiber fractions, potentially reducing digestibility and voluntary intake, and therefore require careful balancing of yield gains with forage quality.

Cowpea is an important legume crop in Africa, valued highly for its grain and also haulms, which are a tradable commodity in fodder markets. Fodder market surveys in Northern Nigeria showed that groundnut haulms were priced higher than cowpea haulms, probably because of their superior nutritive value. The economic value of haulms has prompted cowpea breeders and livestock nutritionists to explore haulm fodder traits as additional selection and breeding criteria. Fifty cowpea genotypes cultivated across five locations in Nigeria in 2013 and 2014 were evaluated for food fodder traits. Significant ( < 0.05) genotypic dependent variations were observed in yields (kg/ha) of grains (537-1082) and haulms (1173-3368), though significant ( < 0.05) effects of location and year were observed. Grain and fodder yield had a tendency to be positively correlated ( = 0.26, = 0.07). Haulms were analyzed for nitrogen (N), fiber fractions, digestibility, and metabolizable energy content. Highly significant variations were observed in all genotypic and livestock nutrition traits, although location and year had significant effects. Trade-offs between grain yield and haulm fodder quality traits were largely absent and haulm acid detergent lignin and grain yield were even inversely correlated ( = -0.28, = 0.05), that is high grain yielders had decreased haulm lignin. However, haulm N and grain yield also tended to be negatively associated ( = -0.26, = 0.07). Haulm fodder quality traits and haulm yield were mostly positively correlated ( < 0.05). Broad sense heritabilities for grain and fodder yield were 0.50 and 0.29, respectively, while heritability for haulm fodder quality traits ranged from 0.61 to 0.67, providing opportunities for concomitant increase in grain yield and haulm fodder quality traits. Selection of the 10 highest ranking genotypes for grain yield, haulm yield, haulm N, and haulm organic matter digestibility showed selection groups overlapping, suggesting that multi-trait selection is feasible. Economical evaluation showed that choice of primary traits is context specific, highlighting the need for identifying and targeting appropriate genotypes to fit different production systems. Considering haulm quantity and quality as traits of economic value can increase overall plant value in mixed crop-livestock systems.

Dual-purpose cowpea with improved grain and fodder quality has potential to enhance food and nutritional security. The objective of this study was to quantify the nutritive value and cooking time of dual-purpose cowpea cultivars (cv.). The study was conducted in 2021 and 2022, at Bambey, Senegal to evaluate 20 cowpea cultivars and two levels of fertilizer (zero and 9-30-15 kg NPK rates). Cowpea fodder crude protein concentration ranged from 16% with EBC4STR2 to 20% with forage-only cultivar 66-35 F. Cowpea fodder macronutrients K, Mg, and S differed up to 77%, 32%, and 33%, respectively, among cultivars. Grain P, K, Ca, Mg, and S concentrations also varied by up to 24%, 24%, 60%, 30%, and 21% among cultivars. Dual-purpose cultivars had lower Ca and Mg compared with grain-only cultivars. However, grain protein and other macronutrient concentrations in dual-purpose cultivars were similar to the grain-only cultivars. Cowpea grain cooking time ranged from 31 minutes for 66-35 F to 106 minutes for Bambey-21. In conclusion, dual-purpose cultivars, such as E-BC4STR11 and E-BC4STR2 with greater grain and fodder quality and less than an hour of grain cooking time, have the potential to improve productivity, quality, and economic value of cowpea in semi-arid regions of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Climate change is one of the most complex challenges that pose serious threats to livelihoods of poor people who rely heavily on agriculture and livestock particularly in climate-sensitive developing countries of the world. The negative effects of water scarcity, due to climate change, are not limited to productivity food crops but have far-reaching consequences on livestock feed production systems. Selenium (Se) is considered essential for animal health and has also been reported to counteract various abiotic stresses in plants, however, understanding of Se regulated mechanisms for improving nutritional status of fodder crops remains elusive. We report the effects of exogenous selenium supply on physiological and biochemical processes that may influence green fodder yield and quality of maize ( L.) under drought stress conditions. The plants were grown in lysimeter tanks under natural conditions and were subjected to normal (100% field capacity) and water stress (60% field capacity) conditions. Foliar spray of Se was carried out before the start of tasseling stage (65 days after sowing) and was repeated after 1 week, whereas, water spray was used as a control. Drought stress markedly reduced the water status, pigments and green fodder yield and resulted in low forage quality in water stressed maize plants. Nevertheless, exogenous Se application at 40 mg L resulted in less negative leaf water potential (41%) and enhanced relative water contents (30%), total chlorophyll (53%), carotenoid contents (60%), accumulation of total free amino acids (40%) and activities of superoxide dismutase (53%), catalase (30%), peroxidase (27%), and ascorbate peroxidase (27%) with respect to control under water deficit conditions. Consequently, Se regulated processes improved fodder yield (15%) and increased crude protein (47%), fiber (10%), nitrogen free extract (10%) and Se content (36%) but did not affect crude ash content in water stressed maize plants. We propose that Se foliar spray (40 mg L ) is a handy, feasible and cost-effective approach to improve maize fodder yield and quality in arid and semi-arid regions of the world facing acute shortage of water.

A morphological and quality analysis of 64 global core collections of cactus genotypes was conducted using 30 growth and fodder quality traits. Results indicated a high coefficient of variation for primary cladode perimeter (91.0%), root fresh weight (50.8%), and number of cladodes per plant (47.7%). The length, width, and thickness of the primary cladode ranged between 14.4 to 53.9 cm, 5.0 to 13.7 cm, and 1.5 to 4.3 cm, respectively. Principal component analysis showed a 77.6% variation in the first 10 major components with an eigenvalue > 1.0. The first and second principal components explained 18.5% and 14.8% of the total variation, respectively. The fresh weight of the shoot was positively correlated with the dry weight of the shoot (0.72), dry weight of the root (0.48), root length (0.38), and fresh weight of primary cladodes (0.29). The dendrogram obtained using a Ward analysis confirmed the results of the PCA analysis. The cactus pear accessions were grouped into four major clusters with a further four sub-clusters, containing 6, 26, 17 and 15 genotypes, respectively. Genotypes, CAZRI-Kukma, Clone 1308, Jalpa, Mexico Unknown, Trunzara Bianca Bronte, Copena F1, CAZRI Botanical Garden, Piantra- 25 and IPA-90-18 are positioned at a wider angle and are more diverse and useful genotypes for use as parent populations for developing new genotypes in future breeding programs.

Optimizing nutrient management strategies is crucial for enhancing the growth, yield, and nutritional quality of fodder maize (Zea mays) while minimizing environmental impacts. This study investigated the effects of innovative nitrogen (N) and zinc (Zn) management approaches on fodder maize production. Different combinations of nitrogen fertilizers, including conventional urea and nano-urea, were applied in conjunction with targeted foliar sprays of zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) and nano-zinc. The experiment was carried out in a Factorial Randomized Block design with four nitrogen management strategies (control N, 100% recommended nitrogen dose RDN through urea, 50% RDN through urea + two sprays of nano-urea at six and ten leaves stages, and 33.33% RDN through urea + two sprays of nano-urea at six and ten leaves stage) and four zinc management strategies (control Zn, soil application of ZnSO4, foliar application of ZnSO4, and foliar application of nano-Zn) which were replicated thrice. The study revealed that applying 50% of RDN through urea, along with dual foliar sprays of nano-urea, achieved comparable productivity to the 100% RDN through urea only. Among the Zn managements, both foliar and soil applications of conventional ZnSO4 recorded similar green and dry fodder yields, although foliar application of ZnSO4 was observed to be superior in terms of qualitative attributes. Maize subjected to the integrated nitrogen and zinc management strategy exhibited elevated protein content and reduced fiber fractions. These findings highlight the potential of nano-urea and foliar zinc application in enhancing both productivity and nutritional quality, while reducing dependence on conventional chemical fertilizers.

Purpose The significance of silicon (Si) in plant nutrition has been debated for many years. Agriculture has overlooked silicon fertilization because of the common belief that soil contains sufficient Si. This has led to neglect of its potential advantages in optimal, stress-free conditions. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of foliar spray of orthosilicic acid (OSA) on the growth, yield, nutrient content, and quality of fodder maize. Methods The experiment consisted seven treatments with different concentrations of OSA (0.05%, 0.10%, 0.15%, 0.20%, 0.25%, and 0.30%) were applied at 30 DAS stage along with the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF 120–26-33 kg N-P - K/ha). RDF without OSA application was used as control. Results The results showed that OSA application significantly improved green fodder yield (GFY) and dry fodder yield (DFY). 0.25% OSA concentration resulted in the highest GFY (53.63 t ha −1 ) and DFY (13.35 t ha −1 ), which were 10.6% and 45.3% higher over control, respectively. The application of OSA also positively influenced growth parameters such as crop growth rate (CGR), relative growth rate (RGR), dry matter accumulation (DMA), leaf:stem ratio, and physiological parameters including SPAD (chlorophyll content), relative water content (RWC%), and leaf area index (LAI). OSA foliar spray improved the nutrient content and uptake in fodder maize. Nitrogen (N%), potassium (K%), and calcium (Ca%) concentrations were significantly increased with OSA application, while phosphorus (P%) concentration remained unaffected. The uptake of N, P, K, and Ca was significantly higher in the OSA-treated plots, with 0.25% OSA treatment showing the highest nutrient uptake. OSA application improved dry matter (DM%) by 11.3%, crude protein (CP%) 1.3%, total ash (TA%) 3.3%, and lowered neutral detergent fiber (NDF%) 2.0%, and acid detergent fiber (ADF%) 2.7%. Economic analysis revealed that OSA at 0.25% concentration resulted in the highest gross return, net return, and benefit–cost ratio (B:C), indicating its economic viability. Conclusion Therefore, foliar spray of OSA, at 0.25% concentration, at 30 DAS improved the growth, yield, nutrient content, and quality of fodder maize. This study highlights the potential of OSA as a beneficial foliar spray for enhancing production and quality of fodder maize.

In this study, we investigated the influence of soil cultivation method on the productivity and quality of pasture grass fodder. We found that increasing the depth of cultivation from 8–10 cm to 20–22 cm (using surface tillage with disk implements) improved the productivity of all the grass species studied – Phleum pratense, Lolium perenne, Festuca orientalis, Dactylis glomerata, Bromus inermis, Phalaris arundinacea, Festuca rubra – by an average of 2%–3% at an LSD05 of 0.30 t ha−1, over a period of 3 years. On average, the most important factor influencing the production of 1 ha of dry mass appeared to be the species of grass, accounting for 57% of the variation. The depth of soil tillage was also important, accounting for 43% of the variation. Of all the species studied, the highest productivity was exhibited by Lolium perenne (0.35 t ha−1 of dry weight). Increasing the soil cultivation depth led to an increase in the content of crude protein and albumen (0.9%–1.1%). According to the analysis of organic matter content and digestibility of the fodder, across the different depths of soil cultivation, the early ripening species Dactylis glomerata, and the average ripening species Festuca orientalis, Lolium perenne, and Bromus inermis, performed best. Considering the different depths of soil cultivation, Lolium perenne [154 g; surface tillage (disking) 8–10 cm] and Festuca orientalis (152 g; ploughing 20–22 cm) provided the most fodder units with digestible protein.

Leucaena leucocephala subsp. glabrata (giant leucaena) is a tree legume, whose foliage is used as a fodder for animals because of its high protein content. In spite of being a highly nutritious fodder, giant leucaena foliage has two undesirable secondary metabolites, mimosine and tannin. The amounts of mimosine and tannin in giant leucaena foliage are known to vary under different environmental conditions. Giant leucaena was grown under different salinity, pH and nitrogen availability conditions. It produced the highest amounts of mimosine at pH 6.0–7.0, whereas, variation in soil pH did not affect tannin concentrations. Salinity stress had negative effects on both mimosine and tannin concentrations, while nitrogen abundance promoted both mimosine and tannin production. Seven genes for mimosine and tannin metabolism were isolated from a transcriptome library of giant leucaena. These were mimosine synthase, mimosinase, chalcone synthase, flavanone 3β-hydroxylase, dihydroflavonol reductase, leucoanthocyanidin reductase, and anthocyanidin reductase. The highest level of mimosine synthase activity was observed in the absence of salt in the soils. Mimosine synthase activities had strong positive correlation with mimosine concentrations in the foliage (R 2 = 0.78) whereas mimosinase expression did not appear to have a direct relationship with salt concentrations. The expression of mimosine synthase was significantly higher in the leucaena foliage under nitrogen abundant condition than in nitrogen deficiency conditions, while mimosinase expression was significantly higher under nitrogen deficiency condition than in nitrogen abundance conditions. Mimosine concentrations in the foliage were positively correlated with the expression levels of mimosine synthase but not mimosinase. Similarly, the concentrations of tannin were positively correlated with expression levels of dihydroflavonol reductase, leucoanthocyanidin reductase, and anthocyanidin reductase. Understanding of the environmental conditions that promote or inhibit transcription of the genes for mimosine and tannin biosynthesis should help to design environmental conditions that inhibit transcription of these genes, resulting in reduced levels of these compounds in the leucaena foliage.

Livestock provides an additional source of income for marginal cropping farmers, but crop residues that are used as a main source of animal feed are characteristically low in digestibility and protein content. This reduces the potential livestock product yield and quality. The key trait, which influences the quality and the cost of animal feed, is digestibility. In this study, we demonstrate that sorghum breeding can be directed to achieve genetic gains for both fodder biomass and digestibility without any trade-offs. The genotypic variance has shown significant differences for biomass across years (13,035 in 2016 and 3,395 in 2017) while in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) showed significant genotypic variation in 2016 (0.253) under drought. A range of agronomic and fodder quality traits was found to vary significantly in the population within both the control and drought conditions and across both years of the study. There was significant genotypic variance (σg2) and genotypic × treatment variance (σgxt2) in dry matter production in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population in both study years, while there was only significant σg2 and σgxt2 in IVOMD under the control conditions. There was no significant correlation identified between biomass and digestibility traits under the control conditions, but there was a positive correlation under drought. However, a negative relation was observed between digestibility and grain yield under the control conditions, while there was no significant correlation under drought population, which was genotyped using the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technique, and 1,141 informative single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers were identified. A linkage map was constructed, and a total of 294 quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected, with 534 epistatic interactions, across all of the traits under study. QTL for the agronomic traits fresh and dry weight, together with plant height, mapped on to the linkage group (LG) 7, while QTL for IVOMD mapped on to LG1, 2, and 8. A number of genes previously reported to play a role in nitrogen metabolism and cell wall-related functions were found to be associated with these QTL.