Studies on performance of improved grasses on degraded grassland under mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh

Present study was conducted during July, 2016 to October, 2017, to study the performance of improved grasses on degraded grassland under mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh. The experiment consisted of seven treatments viz., Setaria anceps (individual), Brachiaria mutica (individual), Trifolium repens (individual), Setaria+Trifolium (combined), Brachiaria+Trifolium (combined), Setaria+Brachiaria+Trifolium (combined) and control. Setaria+Trifolium treatment proved to be the best combination and recorded highest green (323%) and dry fodder yield (336%) over control. Fodder was analyzed for various quality parameters at the time of different cuts of forages. T. repens when grown pure recorded highest crude protein content (20%). Setaria grass when mixed with T. repens recorded maximum crude protein yield when compared with other combinations of grasses. Highest net return was obtained from S. anceps+T. repens. Maximum B: C ratio was recorded in T. repens and minimum from Setaria+Brachiaria+Trifolium because of high cost of root-slips. Introduction of improved grass S. anceps and legume T. repens (in combination), in the degraded grassland increased its total green fodder production to the tune of 27.11 t ha⁻¹.