Determination of forage yield and quality of silage corn and some legume forage crops

In order to feed the rapidly increasing human population healthily and regularly, healthy, high quality and efficient plant and animal production is essential. In today's conditions, animal food production is expensive because the input costs are very high, people are fed more plant-based than animal food. This study was carried out in Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University Research and Application Area in the 2019 and 2021 crop growing seasons in order to increase the quality and efficiency in animal production and to make healthy production. The experiment was set up in a split-plot design with 3 replications. In the research, pure and mixed grasses and legumes, such as maize silage, which is a grass plant, and local bean, which is a legume plant, local cowpea, forage soybean, 70% maize and 30% legume, were used. In this study, the dominant species of grass (maize) was planted without decreasing the plant density, with 70 cm row spacing and 15 cm row spacing. 70% Maize + 30% Legume mixed planting systems were created and sowing was done by hand in the summer planting season. In pure grass and pure leguminous plots, sowing is done on 4 rows of 5 m in length (9.524 plants/da) with 15 cm spacing and 70 cm row spacing in grasses, and 5 m long rows with 5 cm rows and 35 cm row spacing in legumes. It was made by hand in 4 rows (57,150 plants/da). Harvest time was adjusted according to the dominant species, grass (maize). As a result of the study, in terms of total forage yield, the highest forage yield was obtained from the maize + soybean planting system with a value of 13745.05 kg da-1. This system was followed by maize + bean and maize + cowpea planting systems. In terms of total hay yield, the highest hay yield was obtained from the maize + soybean planting system with a value of 2833.10 kg da-1. This system was followed by maize + cowpea planting system. In terms of total crude protein yield, the highest crude protein yield was obtained from maize+soybean planting system with a value of 297.06 kg da-1. This system was followed by maize + cowpea planting system. In the light of these results, maize + soybean, maize + bean and maize + cowpea planting systems can be recommended for Bilecik region.