Yield and nutritive value of oat forage cultivated in Selvíria, MS, Brazil

Abstract

As an aid to solve the low forage availability problem during the dry winter season, an irrigated trial with forage oat (Avena strigose Schreb.) was carried out, on a Red-Yellow Latosol of Selvíria, MS, Brazil. That is a "cerrado" area and the major objective was to assess the best forage productivity and its nutritive value. Oat was sown on May 5, 1980, and harvested when plants were at 35 cm, 45 cm or 55 cm in height. The successive regrowths were ever cut at the same height. Dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) yields and crude protein content (CP%) indicated that harvesting plants at 45 cm height was the best management treatment. This treatment supplyed 5,38 t/ha of DM, containing 29,6% CP in DM, resulting in 1,59 t/ha of CP when plants were harvested at 50, 79 and 103 days after sowing.