Study and evaluation of varieties of non-traditional forage crops in the conditions of the cryolithozone

¹ Oktemsky branch FSBEI HE Arctic State Agrotechnological University, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Khangalassky district, Oktemtsy, Russia
² FSBEI “Federal Altai Scientific Center of Agrobiotechnology”, FSBEI HE, Altai State Agrarian University, Altai Territory, Leninsky District, Barnaul, Russia

^* Corresponding author: luzerna_2008@mail.ru

Abstract

In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), where the main focus of agriculture is animal husbandry, there is a problem of providing cattle with high-quality feed. Currently, the productivity of natural hayfields in Yakutia, due to their irrational use, has decreased from 1.5-1.7 t/ha of hay in the 50s and 60s of the last century to 0.5-0.7 t/ha. Traditional annual and perennial forage crops do not provide the full amount of dry and juicy feed needed. In this regard, research has been conducted on the permafrost floodplain soils of Yakutia to study and search for varieties of non-traditional forage crops that would guarantee a high annual yield of forage mass. The varieties of mogara Altaysky 23, common millet Barnaulskoye 98, Barnaulskoye 18 and Africanskoye K-157 were studied. Experiments have shown that in the conditions of the cryolithozone, the development of mogara plants and common millet plants proceeds slowly and reaches the beginning of flowering phase at the end of the growing season, Africanskoye K-157 millet has more accelerated development and it stops at the beginning of seed maturation. The most leafy millet variety Africanskoye K-157 - (160.4 cm²/plant) provides the highest productivity of green mass (39.8 t/ha); the studied varieties of non-traditional forage crops are rich in protein content (12.5-14.3%), feed units (0.50-0.55 g per 1 kg), exchange energy for ruminants animals (7.1-7.4 MJ/kg).