Potential of salt-tolerant forage grasses as animal feeds in salt affected lands in Sinai, Egypt

摘要

Natural vegetation,the principle feed resource for livestock,in South Sinai has deteriorated and cannot cover their nutritional requirements.Groundwater and soil resources in the region are greatly affected by salinity.Introduction of biosaline agriculture production system could be an effective way to overcome the limitation of raising salinity levels on agricultural production.This study aimed to evaluate the effects of irrigation water salinity levels and irrigation systems on some growth traits,crop yield and nutritive value of three salt-tolerant grass species.Pearl millet(Pennisetum glaucum,L.R.Br.),Sudan grass(Sorghum sudanense)and Sorghum(Sorghum bicolor,L.Moench)were cultivated in salt affected soil of South Sinai Research Station Farm.The grasses were irrigated with two levels of saline groundwater: medium salinity(＞ 4000 ppm total salts)and high salinity(＞ 7000 ppm total salts)using drip irrigation system(DIS)and gated pipes irrigation system(GPIS).Results indicated that pearl millet recorded the highest values of most of growth traits and was superior in both fresh and dry weight,leaf area and biological yield in comparison with the other grasses.DIS was better than GPIS both in terms of dry weight and biological yields which increased by 25 and 18％,respectively.The yield was lower at high salinity than medium salinity level of irrigation water.The three grasses are nutritious for small ruminants as they contained acceptable concentrations of crude protein to cover their protein requirements.The grasses have great potential for feeding animals during summer and autumn seasons when feed shortage is common.In conclusion,cultivation of these salt-tolerant grasses under moderate soil and irrigation water salinity is biologically and economically feasible and can help poor farmers in South Sinai to overcome the shortages of forages and use the marginal land and water resources in a sustainable and productive way.