Effect of precipitation and temperature conditions of Central East Poland on feed value of European maize cultivars cultivated for silage

Abstract

A b s t r a c t. The study was conducted in the years 2009-2011, on a private farm. The experiment was set up in the split-plot design, in three replicates. Two experimental factors were analysed: A – time of harvest of maize green forage: I – in the stage of tasseling (75% of the plants in that stage of growth), II – in the stage of milky ripeness of the plants (after three weeks), III – in the stage of waxy ripeness of the plants (after three weeks), and B – cultivars with various lengths of the vegetation period: Pyroxenia, Codimi, Moschus, Alombo, Celive. The following parameters were determined in the collected samples of plant material: content of crude ash, digestibility of organic matter, and digestibility of dry matter. The results obtained permit the conclusion that the precipitation and temperature conditions in the years of the study caused a significant differentiation in the feed value of the green forage of the European maize cultivars. The digestibility of organic matter (OM) and the digestibility of dry matter (DM) of maize green forage were the highest if the harvest was performed in the stage of waxy ripeness of the plants in 2010, a year with the highest precipitation total. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of the harvest date, and of the selection of cultivars from the Common catalogue of varieties of agricultural plant species (CCA), cultivated in relation to the precipitation and temperature conditions, on the feed value of green forage of maize plants. K e y w o r d s: maize, cultivars, harvest date, digestibility of organic matter, digestibility of dry matter