Productivity and Nutritional Value of Some Festuca Species in Moldova

The grass species of genus Festuca are quite common in the floristic composition of permanent and temporary grasslands, have an essential role in water conservation, protecting the soil from erosion, and producing pytomass have been used as forages, biofuels, raw materials for the circular economy. The goal of this study was to evaluate the productivity and nutritional value of the green mass, prepared hay and silage from the local ecotype of Festuca arundinacea, Festuca pratensis, Festuca rubra and Festuca valesiaca. We found that the forage dry matter productivity at the first cut of the studied Festuca species varied from 5.7 t/ha (Festuca valesiaca) to 10.4 t/ha (Festuca pratensis). The biochemical composition and nutritional value of green fodder were 8.6-12.4% crude protein (CP), 7.5-8.9% ash, 31.5-42.4% crude fibre (CF), 3.0-5.5% acid detergent lignin (ADL), 30.9-39.1% cellulose (Cel), 23.5-29.2% hemicellulose (HC), 4.0-12.2% total soluble sugars (TSS), 492-651 g/kg digestible dry matter (DDM), 443-601 g/kg digestible organic matter (DOM), 527-646 g/kg total digestible nutrients (TDN), relative forage quality RFQ=70-110, 8.90-10.01 MJ/kg metabolizable energy (ME), 4.91-6.13 MJ/kg net energy for lactation (NEl). The quality indices of fescue hays were 7.5-12.2% CP, 8.0-10.5% ash, 35.0-43.0% CF, 3.4-5.8% ADL, 35.1-38.6% Cel, 23.6-31.0% HC, 2.0-10.2%TSS, 462-590 g/kg DDM, 423-541 g/kg DOM, 528-595 g/kg TDN, RFQ=68-93, 10.85-11.68 MJ/kg DE, 8.91-9.59 MJ/kg ME, 4.93-5.61 MJ/kg NEl. The prepared silage from Festuca arundinacea and Festuca pratensis had pH=4.05-4.11, 28.7-29.6 g/kg lactic acid, 6.7-10.0 g/kg acetic acid, 0-1.3 g/kg butyric acid, 10.6-13.0% CP, 9.1-10.5% ash, 32.0-38.0% CF, 1.9-2.4% ADL, 31.5-38.1% Cel, 22.3-29.0% HC, 650-680 g/kg DDM, 610-614 g/kg DOM, 578-646 g/kg TDN, RFQ=82-112, 11.46-12.32 MJ/kg DE, 9.41-10.12 MJ/kg ME, 5.43-6.13 MJ/kg NEl. The local Festuca ecotypes may serve as material for selecting, breeding and implementing new local grass cultivars for forages production.