Effect of harvest stage on forage yield and nutritional value of winter and spring triticale genotypes

摘要

Triticale grain is the first human made cereal created by 1875. It grows in most climates on acidic soils and in extreme temperature conditions. Moreover, the low value oftriticale flour makes it a cereal mainly for animal feed as grain or forage (Varughese et al. 1987). It is well suited for dual purpose use (forage + grain + fodder or fodder, Ben Youssef et al. 2000) and as green forage, silage or hay (Delogu et al. 2001). In Tunisia, triticale was introduced by INRAT but its utilization has not been fully developed in Tunisia. The maximum sown area reached 20000 ha in 1992 and then dropped dramatically in 2002-03. There is a renewed interest for this species, particularly for feed use (as green forage or silage). Because of the uses of this cereal, it is necessary to study the nutritional value of triticale for different uses and varieties. In this trial, we evaluated the forage yield and the nutritional value of two new contrasting triticale types (spring - Tc 1821 vs. winter -G41 triticale variety).