Seed blending of oat (Avena sativa L.) and canola (Brassica napus L.) under variable seed proportions enhanced forage productivity and nutritional quality

Optimization of the proportionate share of component crops in mixed intercropping systems is vital for achieving the added advantage. This field study investigated the productivity of seed blended crops of oats and canola under different seed ratios (80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80 and 50:50%), while their solitary crops were kept for comparison. The agronomic yield attributes, forage biomass and nutritional quality were taken as response variables. The yield attributes of oat in intercropping decreased significantly (p≤0.05) in comparison to the monoculture. Green forage yield and dry matter biomass of component crops decreased with the reduction of their seed proportion in mixtures. However, the maximum productivity (92 t ha-1) of intercropping system was noted for oat and canola sown in 60:40 seed blending ratio, which was closely followed by 80:20 seed proportion. The crude protein (p≤0.01) and total ash (p≤0.05) contents of mixed forage were improved with increased share of canola seed in binary mixtures, while the pure stand of canola yielded the highest quality forage. However, seed blending of oat and canola in 60:40 seed proportion may be preferred owing to higher productivity (19%) and improved nutritional quality of mixed forage. (author)