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Accumulation of Dry Matter and Evolution of Nutritive Value in Serradella (Ornithopus sativus Brot.)

Univ. de Lleida-IRTA, IRTA, Av. Rovira Roure 177, 25189 Lleida, Spain
, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Campus Universitario,, 27002 Lugo, Spain

^* Corresponding author (jaume{at}lleida.irta.es).

Development of efficient forage management and utilization is facilitated by knowledge of nutrititive value evolution and dry matter (DM) distribution patterns within plants. The objectives of this experiment were to determine the patterns of DM accumulation and the evolution of nutritive value from the vegetative stage to the ripe seed stage of serradella (Ornithopus sativus Brot.), a cool-season annual forage legume adapted to acid soils. Serradella was established on a Dystric Eutrochrept soil with pH 5.4 in Mabegondo, northwestern Spain, for three consecutive years (1990–1992). Shoot samples were taken at approximately biweekly intervals in the spring and summer following autumn seeding, and were separated into stems, leaves, and seed pods. Dry matter (DM) accumulation, crude protein (CP), aciddetergent fiber (ADF), and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) were determined for each plant part at each stage. Average annual DM production at initial flowering was 5.1 Mg ha^–1, and the CP, ADF, and IVOMD concentrations were 163, 279, and 750 g kg^–1, respectively. The rates of nutritive value decline with age coincided with a reduction in leaf-to-stem ratio (from a range of 1.91 to 2.85 at vegetative stage to 0.2 at ripe seed stage) and appear lower than the rates reported for other legumes, possibly because of the long indeterminate flowering period. We concluded that the nutritive value parameters of serradella indicate that this legume has a forage quality comparable to other leguminous crops and, if seeded in double-cropping systems (as is done in some Atlantic coastal areas of southern Europe, where it is harvested around initial flowering), it can provide forage of good quality.

Received for publication June 10, 1996.