Forage plant breeding has been largely based on phenotypic selection following sexual recombination of natural genetic variation found between and within ecotypes. Advances in plant genetic manipulation over the last 15 years have provided convincing evidence that these powerful technologies can complement and enhance plant breeding programs. Significant progress in the establishment of the met...

Understanding potential impacts of vegetation change on caribou energetics requires information on varia¬ tions in forage quality among different plant types and over time. We synthesized data on forage quality (nitrogen, neutral detergent fiber and dry matter digestibility) for 10 plant growth forms from existing scientific literature and from field research in the Arctic National Wildlife Ref...

The density at which a crop is grown is known to affect its growth and quality, but little is known about how plant density affects the growth of native perennial forage grasses. The objectives were to investigate the effects of plant population density on the forage yield, forage quality, and plant canopy structure of two native bluestem species. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and s...

Brown midrib, a genetic mutation in several grassy species, reduces lignin content in the total plant parts. Lignin is mostly indigestible but also plays an important role in plant rigidity. During the past several years the brown midrib (bmr) trait has been incorporated into forage sorghum, sudangrass, and corn. The results have been significant for the most part. IVTD values for bmr sorghum h...

the aim of this study was to determine the effects of ensiling and using of fertilizers nitrogen and phosphorus on chemical composition and ruminal dm degradability of safflower plant (carthamustinctorius l.). the safflower plant was cultivated at december 2009, and harvested at june 2010 in flowering stage, chopped to 3-5 cm particles and then ensiled in the laboratory silos for 60 days. the e...

the study was carried out to examine the effects of urban sewage and nitrogen fertilizer levels on yield quantity and quality forage of sweet corn was evaluated in yasouj at 2009. the main experimental factor consisted of 5 irrigation levels including: common irrigation water without sewage effluent until the end of plant growth (i1), the first half of plant growth period with sewage effluent a...

Brown midrib (BMR) is a genetic mutation in several grass species. The BMR gene reduces lignin content in plant cell walls and vascular tissue and improves fiber and whole plant digestibility. Lignin is mostly indigestible and plays a critical role in forage quality by affecting digestibility of cell wall polysaccharides. Lignin also plays in important role in plant rigidity. During the past se...