Prospects for the introduction of fodder species Artemisia into culture

Federal Williams Research Center of Forage Production & Agroecology, 1 Nauchnyi gorodok, Lobnya, Russia

^* Corresponding author: darplant@list.ru

Abstract

In many desert communities, the basis of pasture ecosystems are species of the genus Artemisia, which are edifiers of plant communities in the vast territories of the Central Asia desert zone. Sagebrush pastures with a diverse set of plant species and life forms are used in desert animal husbandry all year round. Artemisia spp. is good fodder pastures plants. Green twigs contain 16.9% protein, 4.4% fat, 39% nitrogen-free extractives. Artemisia diffusa, А. turanica are common on desert graybrown and gray-earth soils with different granulometric composition, Artemisia halophila has a narrow ecological area confined to saline soils. The fodder mass of Artemisia spp. serves as the main type of sheep fodder and is especially appreciated in the autumn, winter and early spring periods. As a result of irrational use, the natural sagebrush pastures of deserts are degraded and need to restore their fodder productivity. All three wild–growing species – Artemisia turanica, Artemisia diffusa, Artemisia halophyla in culture conditions accelerate the passage of phenological phases in the process of ontogenesis. Individuals of species populations of sagebrush develop faster in cultural conditions than in natural sagebrush communities. In the culture conditions the process of ontogenesis, skeletal axes of the shrub are laid at the base of the maternal shoots in young individuals, in the second or third year of life, the tested species of sagebrush form a morphologically full-fledged life form of a semishrub with a feed productivity 3-5 times higher than the yield of natural pastures. In the conditions of Artemisia spp. culture, they grow well and quickly. Many individuals enter the fruiting season in the first year of life.