Effect of Cultivation Practices on Al-Safari (Crotalaria senegalensis) for Domestication as Forage Plant

Abstract

This study was conducted at Khartoum State, College of Forestry and Range Science Experimental Farm, Sudan. The study aimed to investigate the possibility of cultivating the “Al-Safari plant” (Crotalaria senegalensis) under irrigation system and to study the effect of some cultivation methods on its forage productivity, and nutritive value. The experiment was designed according to the randomized complete block design to study the effect of the spacing between plants, and the cultivation method on the productivity of “Al-Safari” forage. Tow cultivation methods (ridges and plots) and spacing between plants (10, 20 and 30 cm were used. The dry matter of the plant was analyzed using the Near Infra Red Spectrometer device (NIRS) to determine its nutritional value. The growth and yield parameters were measured four times during this study with intervals of 15 days. The statistical software program, SAS was used for the collected data by using Dunacan procedure. The study found that there was a significant effect of the cultivation methods and spacing between plants on different growth indicators, while the yield of green and dry fodder were not affected by the different cultivation method and spacing. The study concluded that the ridge method and the spacing 30 cm between plants were the best in terms of plant growth parameters. It is recommended to use the ridge method and spacing of 30 cm between plants to produce high forage productivity from “Al-Safari” plant. Also the study recommends the use of “Al-Safari” plant for forage production and application of various agricultural packages to increase its productivity.