Dual purpose wheat for fodder and grain production

Abstract

Presently, India faces a net deficit of 35.6% green fodder, 10.95% dry crop residues and 44% concentrate feed ingredients. In India, more than 85% of the farmers are small and marginal with small land holdings and a small number of livestock. These farmers are unable to put the required area under green fodder due to scarce land resources as a result foodgrain crops get preference over fodder crops and generally farmers feed livestock with dry fodder and straw which reduce the overall productivity of milch animals. To overcome the green fodder deficiency, a simple technique of growing cereal crops like oats, barley and wheat serves dual purpose. It can provide nutritious green fodder with little detrimental impact on the eventual grain and straw yields. Wheat being dual purpose crop has greater potential to produce higher fodder and grain yield for ensuring food security and enhancing farmers’ net income. During the early stage, the crop biomass can be used as green fodder then it regenerates as a normal crop to yield grains. Also, post-harvest dry straw provides major feed resources for dairy production in South Asia and is widely transacted and traded as dry fodder.