Selection of the starting material of lucerne and clover with increased digestibility of dry matter

The North Caucasian Research Institute of Mountain and Piedmont Agriculture – the Affiliate of Vladikavkaz Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1, st. Williams, 363110, village of Mikhailovskoye, North Ossetia-Alania, Russia

^* Corresponding author: geri4@list.ru

Abstract

The purpose of our research was to study the digestibility of dry matter of lucerne and meadow clover, to develop methods for selecting highly digestible plants and to create a starting material with increased digestibility of dry matter. This paper presents data on the study of the digestibility of drymatter of lucerne and meadow clover, which decreases during the vegetation of plants. The content of the digestible dry matter of lucerne from the stalking phase to the beginning of flowering in the first mowing can decrease by 27%, or 1% per day. In the second mowing, the digestibility of various varieties decreases more slowly over the same period – by 10-12% (0.4-0.6% per day). The study of meadow clover varieties of various ploidy and precocity showed that from the stalking phase to the full flowering phase, the digestibility of dry matter decreases by 14-23%, or 0.4-0.7% per day. The analysis of collection samples showed that among wild forms and samples of European origin, the difference is 8-10%, and in varieties of American origin it exceeds 19%. Varietal differences in the digestibility of the dry matter of meadow clover reach 21%. The proportion of highly digestible plants in populations varies by year. The probability of meeting lucerne plants with a digestibility of 65% and meadow clover plants with a digestibility of 75% is 0.15-16.0%. The amplitude of fluctuations in the digestibility of dry matter of stems in populations reaches 26%, and leaves – does not exceed 19%.