Productivity, profitability and quality of fodder-based cropping systems for year-round fodder production in shivalik foothills plains of India

Abstract

An experiment was conducted over two consecutive years (2020-2021 and 2021-2022) at the Research Farm, Division of Agronomy, SKUAST-Jammu, India. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications. Treatments involved forage-based cropping system comprising combinations of annual cereals, perennial grasses and legume crops. Experimental results revealed that multicut sorghum + maize, along with root slips of napier planted on the field boundaries in July recorded significantly highest green forage yield. During the rabi season, berseem + oat combination with root slips of napier planted on the field boundaries in July was significantly superior to other treatments. Multicut bajra + maize -berseem + barley with stem cuttings of napier planted on the field boundaries in January recorded higher system productivity and profitability.