THE PRODUCTIVITY AND THE QUALITY OF GREEN MASS AND HAY FROM ROMANIAN CULTIVARS OF FESTUCA ARUNDINACEA, GROWN IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Grasses are considered as one of the most important sources in low-cost feed for for animals, but also a substrate for the production of renewable energy. We studied the quality of the freshly harvested biomass and hay of Romanian cultivars of tall fescue Festuca arundinacea: 'Adela', 'Brio', 'Măgurele 5', created at the Research and Development Institute for Grasslands, Braşov, Romania and cultivated in the experimental plot of the National Botanical Garden (Institute) “Alexandru Ciubotaru”, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova. The samples for assessment were taken in the 2 year of growth, when the plants were cut for the 1 time. The amount of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude ash (CA), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), cellulose (Cel), hemicellulose (HC), digestible dry matter (DDM), organic matter digestibility (OMD), relative feed value (RFV), the metabolizable energy (ME), the net energy for lactation (NEl), biomethane production potential (BMP) were analyzed. It has been determined that the green mass productivity of the tall fescue cultivars achieved 30.83-36.96 t/ha, the dry matter contained 114-136 g/kg CP, 74-89 g/kg CA, 582-593 g/kg NDF, 392-396 g/kg ADF, 34-41 g/kg ADL, 322329 g/kg Cel, 226-229 g/kg HC, 60.363.8% DDM and 57.2-62.2% OMD, 9.12-9.62 MJ/kg ME and 5.69-5.86 MJ/kg NEl; the hay dry matter contained 99-117 g/kg CP, 80-86 g/kg CA, 582-593 g/kg NDF, 356-366 g/kg ADF, 34-37 g/kg ADL, 351-356 g/kg Cel, 236-260 g/kg HC, 55.8-57.2% DDM and 51.4-53.3% OMD, 9.51-9.59 MJ/kg ME and 5.53-5.59 MJ/kg NEl, this fact indicates a optimal quality of the roughage feed for ruminants. The substrate for the anaerobic digestion, consisting of fresh mass of tall fescue, had a biomethane production potential of 349-354 L/kg of organic matter. The studied cultivars of tall fescue could be used in the Republic of Moldova for the restoration of degraded permanent grasslands, as a component of the mix of grasses for the creation of temporary grasslands and can be planted between rows in vineyards and orchards. Besides, the obtained biomass can be used as feed for animals or as substrate at biomethane production plants.