Effects of climate change on forage production, nutritional content and some physiological responses of Egyptian clover, ryegrass and their mixture
摘要
Mixing grasses and legumes for fodder production is a common method to increase forage production in agricultural systems that suffer from water deficit. Two field experiments were carried out at the Research and Production Station, National Research Centre, Nubaria Province, Behaira Governorate, during two successive winter seasons to study the impact of water deficit on crop yield, nutritive value and chemical composition of Egyptian clover, ryegrass and their mixture. Limiting irrigation water availability resulted in significantly decreased fresh and dry yield of Egyptian clover, ryegrass and their mixtures. On the other hand, data show the superiority of the treatment of the 75% E. clover: 25% ryegrass mixture in dry forage production compared with the pure stand in total yield. While the highest total fresh yield was given with a 75% E. clover: 25% ryegrass mixture under I100 followed by I75with slightly different results. Chemical analysis of forage plants showed that the mixture of 75% E. clover and 25% ryegrass surpassed other treatments yields for CP, CF, ash, EE and NFE. Regarding energetic components, results indicated GE increased with limited irrigation while while it also increased when forage species were grown in mixtures., However, GE, DE, ME and net energy yield gave the highest value when forages were grown in mixtures under various levels of limited irrigation.I50. Data also revealed that the differences between treatments were significant throughout three cuttings. The findings of this study demonstrate that a plant mixture comprising 75% Egyptian clover (E.C.) and 25% ryegrass, cultivated under limited irrigation (I75), resulted in satisfactory yields, high-quality plant productivity, and excellent nutritional value. These positive outcomes were also observed under moderate levels of limited irrigation.