Quality and Yield Enhancement in Fodder Berseem through Zinc and Iron Fertilization

A field experiment was conducted during rabi 2020 for assessment of quality and fodder enhancement ofberseemthroughzinc andironfertilizationat ResearchFarm,AgronomySection, ICAR-NationalDairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana. The experiment was carried out in Randomized Block Design containing seven treatments which were T1: absolute control, T2: RDF, T3: 100%RDF + Zn (basal), T4: 100% RDF + Fe (basal), T5: 100% RDF + 0.5% foliar spray of Zn, T6: 100% RDF + 0.5% foliar sprayof Fe, T7: 75% RDF + 0.5% foliar spray of Zn + 0.5% foliar spray of Fe and these were replicated thrice. Results of the experiment showed that higher total green fodder as well as total dry fodder yield (69.82 t/ha and 9.59 t/ha, respectively) were recorded in treatment T3 among different treatments for all the three cuts while, minimum total green as well as dry fodder yield was found in treatment T1 (49.59 t/ha and 6.16 t/ha, respectively). Also, with respect of quality parameters, treatment T3 showed significantly higher dry matter content, crude protein, ether extract and total ash and lower neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre, acid detergent lignin and acid insoluble ash for all the three cuts. In summary, application of 100% RDF along with Zn as basal produced better fodder in terms of yield as well as quality.