Yield Performances of Some Forage Grasses and Legumes Mixtures for Roughage Production under Lowland Conditions of Igdir

This study was conducted to determine the most proper forage species and mixtures for the artificial meadow-pasture establishment under lowland conditions of Igdir during the years of 2014 and 2016. Research was arranged in a completely randomized block design with three replications. In the study, plant height, botanical composition according to weight, land equivalence ratio, green herbage and hay yields of pure sowing, and binary and ternary mixtures of alfalfa (A), birdsfoot trefoil (BT), tall fescue (TF) and smooth brome (SB) were investigated. In terms of subjects, only the length of BT, and in terms of years, the plant height of alfalfa and tall fescue were statistically significant. In general, the heights in pure sowings of species were higher than the mixtures, and 2015 were higher in 2015. The proportions in the mean botanical composition of A, BT, TF and SB in mixtures were determined as 62.22%, 39.20%, 49.21%, 20.00% and 29.38%, respectively. In addition, SB+BT, SB+TF+A and SB+TF+BT have formed suitable mixtures in terms of botanical composition. The highest fresh and hay yields were obtained from pure sowing of alfalfa followed by TF+SB+A and TF+A. In terms of years, green herbage and hay yields were higher in 2015 than in 2016 year. In terms of effective use of ecological resources, ternary mixtures were found higher than pure and binary sowings. Considering all parameters examined, it can be said that pure alfalfa, TF+A and TF+SB+A are suitable for the meadow to be established for the purpose of obtaining dry grass and SB+TF+BT and TF+SB+A mixtures for a balanced pasture in terms of nutrient content