Forage Agronomic Evaluation and Biological Compatibility on Grasse: Legume Intercropping in North Gondar Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

The objective of the experiment was carried out toassess forage agronomic evaluation and biological compatibility of grass/legume intercropping for better biomass yield and quality in North Gondar zone. During the experiment Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was employed and the plot size was 2 m×5 m. Relative Yield Total (RYT) was also found to be more than one in all cuts at SP3. In seed proportion three at cutting stages two, the highest value was recorded about 1.72 indicating yield advantages of 72% in forage mixture as compared to sole cropping of forage species. In all observation the higher the legume proportion the relatively lower the Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) up to (50:50) ratio. The contents of ADF were high at HS3. Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL) was found to be higher at HS3 and the lowest value was obtained at HS1 and SP3. In general, the fiber contents were increased with increasing the stagesof harvesting as a whole. With all these findings the experiment result of this study was showed that the combination of SP3 and harvesting at milk stage could be considered as the best association of grass/legume mixture as it resulted in no biological competition on soil resources.