Effect of Nitrogen Levels and Cutting Management On Growth, Yield and Quality of Fodder Oat

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted during Rabi season 2015-16 at Crop Research Centre (Chirauri) of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut (U.P.) to evaluate the effect of nitrogen levels and cutting management on performance of fodder oat and chemical properties of soil. The area lie at a latitude of29° 40' North and longitude of77° 42' East with an elevation of237 meters above 111:ean sea level. The soil of the experimental field was well drained, sandy loam in texture and slightly alkaline in reaction. It was· medium in available nitrogen and phosphorus but high in . available potassium with an electrical conductivity (I :2, soil: water ·suspension) of 1.6 dS/m. The treatments comprised 5 nitrogen levels (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg ha"1) and 2 cutting management (single at 50% flowering and double at 60 DAS and 50% flowering), replicated 4 times in a factorial randomized block design. The data on growth, physiology, green forage yield and quality and its contributing traits were calculated on net plot area basis (16 m2 ), whereas content and uptake in straw along with soil available nutrients and production economic, were recorded as per the standard procedure. The results indicated that growth parameters at all the stages (plant height, number of tillers, leaf area index and dry matter accumulation), green forage yield, dry forage yield and uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and po~assium in oat were significantly superior at 160 kg nitrogen ha·•. Likewise, single cut resulted into higher values of above mentioned parameters than their respective counterparts like double cutting (60DAS and 50 % flowering), except nitrogen content, protein content and nitrogen uptake was higher in double cutting practices.