Evaluation of Maize (Zea mays L.) Genotypes for Forage Biomass Yield and Nutritional Quality

Abstract

አህፅሮት

ይህ ጥናት በሆለታ ግብርና ምርምር ማዕከል በሆለታና አዳበርጋ የመኖ ምርምር ጣቢያዎች የበቆሎ ዝርያዎች ያላቸውን የደረቅ መኖ ምርት እና የመኖ ንጥረ-ነገር ይዘታቸዉን ለመገምገም የተካሄደ ነበር፡፡ ጥናቱም በሁለት የማጨጃ ጊዜ የተካሄደ ሲሆን የመጀመሪያው በሳይሌጅ (ገፈራ) ደረጃ ሲሆን ሁለተኛው በአረንጓዴ ቆረቆንዳ (ኮብ) ደረጃ ነበር፡፡ የደረቅ መኖ ምርት፣ የዕፅዋት ቁመት እና በአንድ ተክል ላይ የሚገኙ ቆረቆንዳዎች (ኮብ) ብዛት እና የመኖ ጥራት መረጃዎች ተሰብስበዋል፡፡ በሁለቱም የማጨጃ ጊዜ በዕፅዋት ቁመት፣ በደረቅ መኖ ምርት፣ በሚፈጭ (Digestible) የደረቅ መኖ ምርት እና በፕሮቲን የደረቅ መኖ ምርት ላይ ከፍተኛ (P<0.001) የሆነ ልዩነት ጥናቱ በተካሄደባቸው ሁለት ቦታዎች ላይ ታይቷል፡፡ የተቀናጀ የትንታኔ ውጤት እንደሚያመለክተው በገፈራ የማጨጃ ጊዜ ኩሌኒ ከፍተኛ የዕፅዋት ቁመት የነበረው ሲሆን ተከትሎም AMH-854 እና ጅባት ከፍተኛ (P<0.05) ቁመት ነበራቸው፡፡  በሁለቱም የማጨጃ ደረጃዎች በዝርያዎች መካከል ከፍተኛ የሆነ ልዩነት በድራይ ማተር (DM) ላይ እንደነበር የተቀናጀ የትንተና ውጤት አመልክቷል፡፡ ከADF ዉጭ ለሁሉም ንጥረ ይዘቶች በጂኖታይፖች መከከል (P<0.05) ልዩነት አልነበረም፡፡ በአረንጓዴ ቆረቆንዳ (ኮብ) የማጨጃ ጊዜ ጂኖታይፖች መካከል  ከፍተኛ (P<0.01) የሆነ ልዩነት በድራይ ማተር (DM)፣ አመድ (Ash)፣ ADF እና ADL ላይ እንደነበር ያሳያል፡፡ በሁለቱም የማጨጃ ጊዜ  በተወሰደው በደረቅ  መኖ ምርት እና በዕፅዋት ቁመት መረጃ ላይ በመመርኮዝ ኩለኒ፣ AMH-853 እና ጅባት የበቆሎ ዝርያዎች ለጥናቱ አካባቢዎች እና ለተመሳሳይ የግብርና ስነ-ምህዳሮች እንደ አረንጓዴ መኖነት እንዲጠቀሙበት ጥናቱ ይመክራል፡፡ ነገር ግን ጠቅለል ያለ ድምዳሜ ላይ ለመድረስ በተሞከሩት ዝርያዎች ላይ የገፈራ ጥራት እና የእንስሳት ምርታማነት ላይ ተጨማሪ ሥራዎች መሰራት አለባቸው፡፡

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes for their forage dry matter yield and nutritive value at Holetta and Adaberga forage research stations of Holetta Agricultural Research Centre. Genotypes were tested in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The study was conducted in two sets; the first set consisted of genotypes harvested at the silage harvesting stage and the second set included genotypes harvested at the green cob stage. The data collected consisted of dry matter yield, plant height and number of cobs per plant and nutritional quality of the maize genotypes. All data were subjected to analysis of variance, with significance tested at P<0.05. The location had a significant (P<0.001) effect on plant height, dry matter yield, digestible dry matter and crude protein yield at both stages of harvest. In both stages of harvest, plant height was significantly (P<0.05) affected by genotype. The result of the combined analysis showed that Kuleni had the highest plant height followed by AMH-854 and Jibat at the silage harvesting stage (P < 0.05). The result of a combined analysis indicated that DM was significantly different among genotypes at both harvesting stages. Non-significant (P<0.05) differences were found among the genotypes in all the nutrient contents, excluding ADF. For genotypes harvested at the green cob stage, dry matter, ash, acid detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin were significantly (P<0.01) influenced by genotype. In conclusion based on dry matter yield and plant height data taken at both harvesting stages, Kuleni, AMH-853 and Jibat maize genotypes were recommended as a green feed for the study areas and similar agro-ecologies. But, to reach exhaustive conclusions further works shall be done on the silage quality of the recommended genotypes and their effect on animal performance.