HOW DOES MAIZE FODDER MATURITY IMPACT FORAGE YIELD AND NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION?

This study was conducted to find maize germplasms that provide higher forage yield with a high nutritional composition. Eight local maize landraces were cultivated with a control variety Badra in Agrotech Park, Malwatta, Sri Lanka, with all recommended agronomical techniques. The nutritional contents and yield characteristics of fodder maize were examined at 70, 80, and 90 days after planting (DAP) and the responses were compared with Badra. The results revealed that SEU17 recorded the maximum fresh fodder yields of 95.71, 79.84, and 73.14 at 70DAP, 80DAP, and 90DAP harvest, respectively. The total number of leaves and the number of dry leaves of all maize fodder landraces increased with maturity. The highest number of leaves was observed at 90DAP in SEU17 (14.81) and SEU15 (12.35) had the lowest total number at 70DAP. With maturity, the total number of leaves and the number of dry leaves of all maize fodder landraces increased. SEU17 (14.81) had the highest total number of leaves at 90DAP, while SEU15 (12.35) had the lowest total number of leaves at 70DAP. The dry matter of SEU15 was highest followed by SEU06 and SEU02 at 80DAP. Only the SEU17 had the significantly highest ash content at both 70, 80 and 90 DAP. SEU16 reported the highest value of Ether Extract (EE) and Crude Protein (CP) content at 70, 80, and 90DAP. At 70 and 80DAP of harvest, SEU02 and SEU15 had the greatest fiber content of 27.23 and 30.65, respectively. The two-way interaction between landraces and harvest stage caused significant (p<0.05) variation in fresh weight, dry matter and CP content. It is suggested that SEU16 and SEU17 landraces be grown forage production under circumstances similar to the current study. Therefore, these landraces should be used in future breeding programs to generate improved fodder types. Keywords: Forage, fodder maize, landraces, stage of harvest.