Livestock Nutrition

Biography

Biography: Muhammad Shoaib Tufail

Abstract

A field study was conducted with smallholder dairy farmers of Kasur and Okara districts of Punjab, Pakistan during winter season 2012-2014 to determine the effects of using improved variety seed against conventional seeds on forage quality, dry matter (DM) and seed yields of annual Berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.). Farmer participatory research approach was used for on-farm varietal selection and evaluation. Seed rate of 20kg/ha was broadcasted in standing water as farmer’s standard sowing method, while all the other agronomic practices were kept constant except harvesting time across all sites. Three different seed sources of Berseem clover were used for this purpose; comprised of farmer own-saved seed (FS), market seed (MS) and the research station seed (RS). Two forage cuts were taken from each treatment plot after 65 and 110 days after sowing (DAS) and the subsequent forage cuts then left to flower after 110, 150, 180 and 210 DAS for seed production as Treatment one (T1), Treatment two (T2), Treatment three (T3) and Treatment four (T4), respectively. Harvesting time of 150 DAS (T2) with three forage cuts produced excellent forage and seed yields per hectare of all seed sources across all research sites. The research station seed at all research sites produced significantly higher yields of DM (6.59 t/ha) and seed (420 kg/ha) under the agro-climatic conditions of Kasur and Okara districts. Moreover, improved variety seed produced high quality forage having crude protein (26.8%), dry matter digestibility (68.3%) and metabolisable energy (14.1%). The study demonstrates that small-holder farmers can earn significant net income of PKR. 221, 688 Rs/ha (3,079A$/ha) from commercial forage seed production provided that the germplasm is of high quality.