Mljekarstvo (Oct 2002)
Importance of winter cereals with winter pea mixtures on family farms in Croatia
Abstract
The object of this research was to ensure quality green forage and silage early in the spring on family farms in northern Croatia, through introducing winter cereals and Winter pea mixtures. For that purpose mixtures of Winter pea (cv. Maksimirski visoki) with triticale (cv. Clercal) were cut in the beginning of May, while the mixtures of Winter pea with wheat (cv. Sana and cv. Žitarka) were cut in the second half of May at family farms: Maletić (Ferdinandovac), Mirović (Višnjevac), Bazić (M. Trojstvo), Mlinar (Kapela Podravska), Mužinić (Križevćec) i Uher (Grabovac). The mixtures were used to feed dairy cows from the beginning of flowering till the full bloom of Winterpea. The green mass yields (GMY) for mixtures of Winter pea with triticale cut in the beginning of pea flowering varied from 24.0 to 52.7 t/ha, while the GMY of mixtures cut in the full bloom of Winter pea were from 46.7 to 67.5 t/ha. Average dry matter yields (DMY) for mixtures of Winter pea with triticale cut in the beginning of flowering varied from 4.05 to 12.2 t/ha, while the DMY of mixtures cut in the full bloom of Winter pea were from 8.98 to 18.39 t/ha. All mixtures of Winter pea with triticale cut in the beginning of flowering had drymatter content (DMC) from 19.41 % while the DMC of mixtures cut in the full bloom of Winter pea were from 23.56 %. The GMY for mixtures of Winter pea with wheat cut in the beginning of pea flowering varied from 23.2 to 50.0 t/ha, while the GMY of mixtures cut in the full bloom of Winter pea were from 53.3 to 62.5 t/ha. The DMY for mixtures of Winter pea with wheat cut in the beginning of flowering varied from 4.39 to 9.49 t/ha, while the DMY of the same mixture cut in the full bloom were from 10.67 to 15.59 t/ha. All mixtures of Winter pea with wheat cut in the beginning of flowering had DMC from 17.0 % to 20.96 %, while the DMC of the same mixtures cut in the full bloom were from 20.00 % to 27.31 %.
