Effect of Different Sowing Methods and Nitrogen Levels on Fodder Yield of Oat in Salt Affected Soil

Abstract

Scarcity of the feed and fodder availability in winter season has been considered as the foremost bottleneck in harnessing the potential of the livestock sector in Pakistan. In this perspective a field study was conducted for three consecutive years (2013 to 2015) at Soil Salinity Research Institute, PindiBhattian, Hafizabad, Pakistan to evaluate different nitrogen levels and the cost-effective sowing technique for oat for- age production under salt affected conditions. Two sowing methods i.e. broad cast and drill sowing with 30 cm apart rows and four nitrogen levels (75,100,125 and 150 % of N recommended dose i.e. 150kg ha- ) were tested. Recommended dose of PK fertilizer (85-60 PK kg ha-1 ) was used uniformly with experimental N rates. Data on plant height (132.00 cm), number of plants (91.33 m-2 ), number of tillers (146.00 m-2) , number of leaves tillers-1 (5.66), total dry matter (17.70 t ha-1 ) and fodder yield (60.90 t ha-1 ) showed that nitrogen ap- plication @ 150 % N of recommended dose with drill sowing proved to be the most cost effective technique for fodder oat production in salt affected soil as compared to other treatments.