Yield and quality assessment of annual and perennial fodder intercrops in Leucaena alley farming system

Abstract

The introduction of leguminous trees in agroforestry and livestock feeding systems offers promise for bridging the huge demand and supply gap in animal feed and fodder in India. Leucaena, a miracle tree for its fast growth, multipurpose uses, nitrogen fixing ability, etc. finds its value in agroforestry system. In the present study, the fodder crop productivity in the Leucaena (Subabul) alleys was not affected and the above ground biomass of the system was more when compared to sole fodder production of annual (maize + cowpea followed by berseem + ryegrass) and perennial Napier Bajra hybrid. The fodder productivity of perennial and annual crops was 140.2 and 110.3 t/ha in Leucaena alleys against the 128.7 and 98.7 t/ha in open, respectively. The Leucaena based silvi-pastoral model was found highly productive, which yielded fuelwood (3.52 t/ha on dry weight basis) in addition to fodder from inter-crops and Leucaena. Biomass yield of one hectare of inter-cropping was found equivalent to 1.45 ha by sole fodder crops. Moreover, the Subabul based fodder inter-cropping produced 15 per cent higher protein than the sole fodder crop on unit area basis.