TITLE:
Yield and Quality of Forage Oat (Avena sativa L.) Cultivars as Affected by Seed Inoculation with Nitrogenous Strains
AUTHORS:
Muhammad Saleem, M. Shahid Ibni Zamir, Ihtishamul Haq, M. Zahid Irshad, M. Kamran Khan, M. Asim, Qamaruz Zaman, Ihtisham Ali, Aman Khan, Saeedur Rehman
KEYWORDS:
Oat Cultivars, Nitrogenous Strains, Quality and Forage Yield
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.6 No.19,
December
24,
2015
ABSTRACT: Nitrogen availability can be enhanced with the application of nitrogen fixing bacteria and it may
be helpful in increasing forage yield and improving quality of oat. Therefore, a field trial to evaluate
the effect of seed inoculation with nitrogen fixing bacteria on forage yield and quality of oat
was carried out at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad during Rabi
season 2013-14. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with
factorial arrangements using three replications. The experiment was comprised of two integrated
approaches. The first approach was oat cultivars consisting of four treatments, V1 (AVON), V2 (S-2000), V3 (S-2011) and V4 (PD2LV65) and the second approach was seed inoculation consisting
of three treatments, S0 (control), S1 (Azotobacter spp.), S2 (Azospirillum spp.). Fisher’s analysis of
variance technique was used for statistically interpretation of data by using least significant difference
(LSD) test at 5% level of probability. Nitrogen fixing bacteria significantly affect the germination
count (m2), plant height (cm), number of tillers (m2), number of leaves per tiller, leaf
area per tiller (cm2), green forage yield (t·ha-1) and dry matter yield (t ha-1). The maximum green
forage yield (85.2 t·ha-1), dry matter yield (14.1 t ·ha-1) and crude protein (11.5%) were recorded
where Azotobacter inoculation was applied. The interaction between cultivars and nitrogenous
strains was significant for green forage yield (t·ha-1), dry matter yield (t·ha-1) and crude protein
(%). Conclusion showed that cultivar Sargodha-2011 which was inoculated with Azotobacter spp.
gave higher forage yield of good quality.