Effect of nitrogen on growth, yield and quality of fodder pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) cultivars under irrigated condition of North-Western Rajasthan

摘要

In India, the requirement of green fodder was 611.99 Mt against the availability of only 224.08 Mt (Anonymous. 2006). It reflects a wide gap between demand and supply because the regional deficit are more important than the national deficit especiallyfor forages which account only 3.4 m ha and 9.3 m ha area of total cultivable land is utilized for forage production in 1999 in Rajasthan and India, respectively (GOI, 2004). This is because of increasing pressure of human population on land in the country as a result of which top priority is given to only grain crops, preferential use of low-capability land for forages and multiplication ratio is very narrow in most of fodders. The efficiency of milch as well as drought animals largely depends upon the supply of quantity and quality of ration in which green fodder plays a vital role. In the recent years shortage of fodder has remained the burning problem, which calls for the attention of researchers to initiate efforts that can ensure regular foddersupply for development of dairy farming and improvement of the cattle wealth. These are following objectives of study.