Effect of Harvest Time and Cultivars on Forage Yield and Quality of Whole Crop Barley

摘要

Barley is an important substrate for forage production in winter season of Korea. In this study, field trials were carried out to investigate the effects of harvest time and cultivar on the yield and quality of forage barleys developed in Korea. Four whole crop barley cultivars (Youngyang, Wooho, Yuyeon and Dami) were selected and harvested on five separate growth stages (heading, and intervals of 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after heading) in split plot design with three replications. Forage yield and nutritive value were determined. Results from this experiment indicated significant differences due to harvest time and cultivar in dry matter yield and total digestible nutrients (TDN) yield for forage. The interaction between harvest time and cultivar was not significant. The TDN yield trends were increasing with later harvest time due to higher dry matter yield and TDN content. This experiment provides some interesting results with respects to optimum harvest time, feed value and ultimately yield for the different whole crop barley cultivars.