Hay yield and quality of different mixtures of forage turnip (brassica rapa L.) and triticale (x triticosecale wittmack)

This study was conducted to determine the hay yield and quality of mixtures (100:0%, 75:25%, 50:50%, 25:75%, and 0:100%) of forage turnip (Brassica rapa L.) and triticale (x Triticosecale Wittmack) under the ecological conditions of Bilecik. The study was conducted over two years (2023–2024 and 2024–2025) at the Agricultural Research and Application field of Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University and it was carried out using a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Pure forage turnip and mixtures were harvested at the flowering stage based on forage turnip, while the triticale was harvested at the milk stage. In the mixtures, botanical composition, hay yield, crude protein (CP) content and yield, acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and condensed tannin (CT) contents were determined. According to the two-year results; the highest hay and protein yields were obtained from the mixtures of 75FT+25T% (1338.78–210.52 kg da-1), 50FT+50T% (1415.18–206.49 kg da-1), and 25FT+75T% (1362.77–188.37 kg da-1), which were all in the same statistical group. The K, P, Ca, and Mg contents of the forage turnip and triticale mixtures ranged from 2.37% to 2.01%, 0.47% to 0.22%, 1.25% to 0.22%, and 0.25% to 0.12%, respectively. The highest condensed tannin (CT) content in the mixtures was determined in pure forage turnip with 1.51%, while the lowest was in pure triticale with 1.02%. As a result of the study, the hay yield and quality of forage turnip–triticale mixtures were superior compared to the pure stands. Accordingly, it was concluded that, sowing all forage turnip–triticale mixtures (25:75%, 50:50%, and 75:25%) would be appropriate under the Bilecik ecological conditions.