Influence of Nitrogen and Water Management on Yield and Chemical Composition of Oat (Avena sativa, L.) Forage

Abstract

An experiment was conducted on sandy loam soil to study the yield and quality of oat (Kent variety) forage as influenced by nitrogen (0, 40, 80, and 120 kg N/ha) and soil moisture regime (irrigation at 25, 50, and 75 per cent available soil moisture). The yield of dry forage gradually increased from 79 to 99 q/ha with progressive increase in levels of nitrogen from 0 to 120 kg N/ha. The crude protein content increased with successive doses of nitrogen fertilization, while the trend was not consistent for phosphorus, calcium, ash, silica, and acid detergent fibre content of oat forage. Frequent irrigation depressed the concentration of crude protein, phosphorus, calcium, ash, silica, and acid detergent fibre in the forage.