Yield and quality characteristics of guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.) harvested at different growing stages

Guar which is a legume species that has been successfully cultivated to supply fodder crops of livestock and has also the potential to become an important the forage for our country. This study was conducted to determine the effects of different cutting stages (early vegetative stage, beginning of flowering, semi-flowering, full flowering, end of flowering, pod formation, full pod, and shape of the seeds in the pod) the forage yield and quality of guar at the Middle Kizilirmak Basin of Turkey (elevation 550 m), in a randomized complete block design with 3 replicates in 2017 year. According to different cutting stages; the results ranged from 52.7 to 94.9 cm in plant height, 6.4-6.5 item plant-1 in number of brunch, 23.9-52.4% in leaf ratio, 40.9-55.9% in stem ratio, 14.3-32.6% in pod ratio, 0.54-1.10 in ratio of leaf/stem, 4.00-7.64 mm in stem diameter, 838-3874 kg da-1 in green herbage yield, 252-989 kg da-1 in hay yield, 22.5-27.1%, 7.5-13.1%, 17.9-23.2% and 56.6-263.8 kg da-1, 33.0-90.2 kg da-1, 132.3-229.7 kg da-1 leaf, stem, pod in crude protein ratio and crude protein yield, respectively, leaf, stem, pod in ratio of crude cellulose (37.4-46.3%, 60.8-65.6%, 44.6-51.2%), ADF (28.3-43.8%, 45.6-53.2%, 30.5-36.3%), NDF (37.5-42.7%, 36.5-58.7%, 54.2-56.8%) and ADL (1.9-11.1%, 15.4-26.2%, 5.4-10.5%) respectively. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the optimal values, both in yield and quality, were obtained from the end of flowering or pod formation stage.