BIOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF THE VARIETY SAMPLES OF THE RED CLOVER AND GALEGA ORIENTALIS - Ecological Consequences of Increasing Crop Productivity - page 291

in G. orientalis and 36.0 percent in the red clover. The fi ber content increased to 33.1
percent in G. orientalis and 30.2 percent in the clover. The obtained results of study-
ing the chemical composition of the green mass of both the crops in different phases
of development of the plants were the only proof that the most optimal timing of
harvesting forage is the phase of budding, which is the beginning of fl owering. In this
phase, the herbage of the both crops forms the highest yield of forage. Therefore, a
more complete biochemical estimation of the feed mass of the variety samples of the
red clover and G. orientalis was carried out by us in the budding phase, which is the
beginning of fl owering.
According to the previous studies [2-4], the average yield of green mass harvested
in this phase was in the cultivar of G. orientalis Nesterka 650 cwt/ha, in the red clover
varieties Mereya—570 cwt/ha. When you consider that 1 kg of green mass of G. ori-
entalis contains on an average 0.25 fodder units and 45 g of digestible protein (DP),
and in the red clover—0.2 fodder units, and 30 g of DP, then by cultivating varieties of
G. orientalis Nesterka, we can obtain 162.5 cwt of fodder units or 29.2 cwt/ha of DP,
and in the varieties of the red clover Mereya—114 cwt/ha of fodder units or 17.1 cwt/
ha of DP. Thus, one feed unit of G. orientalis contains 176.0 g of DP and that of red
clover 150.0 g. However, in the feed production in the Republic of Belarus, feed qual-
ity and protein diet supply still remain relevant. One feed unit accounts for only 99 g of
digestible protein, which is below normal by 6 g. Defi ciency of protein in animal feed,
according to scientists, leads to an annual expenditure of more than 1 million tons of
grain in the republic. Therefore, the cultivation and use in the feed production of the
varieties of red clover Mereya and eastern G. orientalis Nesterka in which the content
of digestible protein in one feed unit is 150-176 g certainly will improve the quality of
feed and reduce the protein defi ciency. Creating more productive varieties of the both
crops with higher feed qualities will further enhance their effectiveness. It is known
that depending on the type of the crop and genotypic characteristics of the variety, the
nutrient content of the fodder mass may be different.
To identify these differences, we carried out a comparative biochemical evalua-
tion of the new variety samples of the red clover TOS-870, SL-38, Mut-BSAA, and
G. orientalis SEG-1, SEG-2, and SEG-3 with the varieties Mereya and Nesterka. The
evaluation revealed differences between the variety samples for each crop. So, in the
green mass of the variety samples of the red clover, dry matter content ranged from
21.42 to 22.60 percent, in G. orientalis from 20.3 to 24.0 percent (Table 27.2).

TABLE 27.2 The chemical composition (% to dry matter) of the green mass in the variety
samples of Galega orientalis and red clover in the budding and early flowering phase

Red clover Galega orientalis

Mereya
control

TOS-
870

SL-38 Mut-

BSAA

Nest-
erka
control

SEG-
1

SEG-
2

SEG-
4

Trait

Dry matter,
%

21.49 21.42 22.12 22.6 22.9 20.3 24.0 23.7