Forage yield and quality of different maize varieties as affected by seed rates and cutting stages under rainfed tracts of West Bengal

摘要

In a field experiment in kharif in West Bengal, India, maize cv. Ganga-5 and Kisan were sown at rates of 40 (S1), 50 (S2) or 60 (S3) kg/ha and were cut at tasselling (C1), silking (C2) or the milky ripe stage (C3). The highest green forage and dry matter yields were obtained with Ganga-5 at S3 and C2. Nitrogen and crude protein content and crude protein yield were greater in Ganga-5 than Kisan. In both cultivars, these parameters increased with increasing sowing rate and decreased with delay in cutting, except for crude protein yield which was greatest at C2.