Determining the proper sowing time for the mixture of hungarian vetch and triticale under continental climate conditions

Abstract

The research was conducted to determine forage yield and some quality characteristics of Hungarian vetch + triticale mixture, sowed in five different times under rainfed conditions of Central Anatolia, Turkey. The mixture was sowed in the second, third and fourth week of October, and the first and the second week of November in 2017 and 2018. Depending on the sowing times, plant height (PH) of Hungarian vetch and triticale was between 46.7 and 59.4 cm, and 85.9 and 93.4 cm, respectively. Green forage yield (GFY) was between 1746.2 and 2059.4 kg da-1, dry matter yield (DMY) was between 541.0 and 707.6 kg da-1, crude protein yield (CPY) was between 80.4 and 110.3 kg da-1, digestible dry matter yield (DDMY) was between 340.8 and 453.9 kg da-1, acid detergent fiber (ADF) ratio was between 31.8 and 33.7%, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) ratio was between 44.7 and 49.5%, total digestible nutrient (TDN) was between 57.9 and 60.4% and relative feed value (RFV) was between 118.6 and 133.8. Sowing time had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on PH of triticale, while it has a very significant effect (P < 0.01) on GFY, DMY, CPY, DDMY, NDF ratios and RFV. Delaying the sowing time caused a decrease in the GFY, DMY and quality of the mixture. Results revealed that the first week of October is the most appropriate sowing time to obtain high dry matter yield with high quality under continental climate conditions of the Central Anatolia. © 2022, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. All rights reserved.