Effects of different nitrogen doses and cultivars on some nutritive value of annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum var. westerwoldicum) silage

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different nitrogen doses and cultivars on some nutritive value of annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum var. westerwoldicum) silage. Material and Methods: The study was conducted as a field experiment at Ege University, Department of Field Crops during the growing season of 2019-2020. Four annual ryegrass cultivars (Elif, Big Boss, Baquend, and Medoacus) and five nitrogen doses (0, 75, 150, 225, and 300 kg ha-1) were investigated. Some characteristics tested in the experiment were silage dry matter, crude ash, crude protein contents, NDF and ADF contents and silage RFV. Results: The characteristics studied were affected by the applications. While the highest silage dry matter ratio was obtained with 225 kg N ha-1, 300 kg N ha-1 application gave the highest crude protein rate and RFV. The lowest NDF and ADF rates were obtained at a fertilizer rate of 300 kg N ha-1 application. Baquend cv. gave the highest silage dry matter ratio and crude ash ratio.The highest crude protein ratio, lowest NDF and ADF ratios and highest silage RFV were obtained from Elif cv. Conclusion: Elif cultivar had acceptable silage properties at a nitrogen dose of 225 kg ha-1.

Effects of sugarcane variety and nitrogen application level on the quality and aerobic stability of sugarcane tops silage

“…In addition, in this study, the contents of NDF and ADF in the sugarcane tops silage produced from variety C22 were significantly lower than the contents of NDF and ADF in sugarcane tops silage produced from varieties B9 and T11 at all levels of N application tested. Similar results were found in annual ryegrass silage and Italian ryegrass silage at any N application level, and the lowest NDF and ADF contents were found in annual ryegrass silage produced from the Elif variety, while the lowest NDF content was found in Italian ryegrass silage produced from the Devis variety ( Ertekin et al., 2021 ; Assouma and Çelen, 2022 ). A possible reason for this is that the composition and structure of sugarcane cell walls (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) vary among different forage varieties ( Figueiredo et al., 2019 ).…”

“…In this study, when the N application rate was 150 or 300 kg/ha, the DM content in the sugarcane tops silage produced from C22 was significantly higher than that of T11. Similarly, after nitrogen application, the different varieties of annual ryegrass and whole-crop maize silage were also affected by the DM content of their silage, and the DM content of the annual ryegrass silage produced from the variety Baquend at N application rates of 225 kg/ha was the highest, while that of the whole-crop maize silage produced by the variety Andante at N application rates of 168 kg/ha was the highest ( Lynch et al., 2013 ; Assouma and Çelen, 2022 ). Studies have shown that the chlorophyll content of sugarcane leaves is closely related to the accumulation of DM, and at N application rates of 150 or 300 kg/ha, the relative chlorophyll content of C22 sugarcane leaves is significantly higher than that of T11 sugarcane leaves ( Zeng et al., 2020 ).…”

“…Moreover, in this study, at N application rates of both 0 and 150 kg/ha, the ash content of sugarcane tops silage produced from T11 was highest, while at N application rates of 300 kg/ha, the ash content of the sugarcane tops silage produced from C22 was lowest. Similarly, the ash content of annual ryegrass silage produced from the Baquend variety at N application rates of no more than 225 kg/ha and that of whole-crop maize silage produced from the KXA 7211 (harvested on October 6 and September 15) or Andante (harvested on October 27) varieties at N application rates of 33 kg/ha were the highest; however, the ash content of annual ryegrass silage produced from the KXA 7211 (harvested on October 6 and September 15) or Andante (harvested on October 27) varieties at N application rates of 300 kg/ha and that of whole-crop maize silage produced from the Tassilo variety at N application rates of 168 kg/ha were the lowest ( Lynch et al., 2013 ; Assouma and Çelen, 2022 ). This is mainly attributed to the significant difference in the OM content in the forage before ensiling.…”