Abstract
The production of halophytes using saline waters and soils, and feeding livestock with them, is one of the most sustainable ways of conserving desert ecosystems and food production for people living in these areas. Therefore, to study the possibility of growing kochia (Kochia scoparia) as a forage crop in desert environments with saline underground water, a research project was performed in Birj and, in the center of South Khorasan province, Iran. The rate and percentage of germination, radiation use efficiency (RUE), growth and ion accumulation in kochia were studied at three levels of saline irrigation water (1.5,8.6 and 28.2 dS/m), three irrigation intervals and two plant densities (10 and 20 plants/m2). The results showed that salinity negatively influenced the majority of plant‘s morphological and physiological indices, yet the dry matter accumulation in the highest salinity level reached 60% of plants in lower saline levels, and even moderate salinity caused a small stimulus in plant growth and yield performance. However, mostly no difference was observed with the lowest salinity level. The radiation absorption of kochia rose as leaf area index (LAI) increased, and 95% of radiation was absorbed with an LAI equal to 4.5-5. In general, increase in salinity caused a delay in early season development, and accelerated plant maturity at late season. Kochia’s adjustability for vegetative growth and forage yield show no response to plant density, but the seed yield increased on increasing the plant density. In conclusion, the kochia’s high production capacity, desirable digestibility and crude protein content in the presence of salinity and other desert stresses, such as high temperature and drought, make this plant suitable as a forage crop in harsh environmental conditions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Pessarakli M (1994) Handbook of plant and crop stress. Marcel Dekker, New York
Siadat H, Bybordi M, Malakouti MJ (1997) Salt-affected soils of Iran: A country report. Proceeding of International symposium on “Sustainable Management of Salt Affected Soils in the Arid Ecosystems”. Cairo, Egypt
Glenn EP, Swingle RS, Riley JJ, Mota CU, Watson MC, Squires VR (1992) North American halophytes: Potential use in animal husbandry. In: VR Squires, AT Ayoub (eds): Halophytes as a resource for livestock and for rehabilitation of degraded lands. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
Lieth H, Lohmann M (2000) Cash crop halophytes for future halophyte growers. Institute of Environmental Systems Research, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück
Aflakpui GKS, Gregory PJ, Froud-Williams RJ (1998) Effects of temperature on seed germination rate of Striga hermonthica (Del.) Benth. Crop Protect 17: 129–133
Fuehring HD, Finkner RE, Oty CW (1985) Yield and composition of kochia forage as affected by salinity of water and percent leaching. Available at: http://wrri.nmsu.edu/publish/ techrpt/abstracts/abs199.html (accessed 4 Jun 2005)
Zahran MA (1993) Juncus and kochia: Fiber-and fodder-producing halophytes under salinity and aridity stress. In: M Pessarakli (ed): Handbook of plant and crop stress. Marcel Dekker, New York
Flores J, Briones O (2001) Plant life-form and germination in a Mexican inter-tropical desert: Effects of soil water potential and temperature. J Arid Environ 47: 485–497
Miyamoto S, Glenn EP, Singh NT (1992) Utilization of halophytic plants for fodder production with brackish water in subtropic deserts. In: VR Squires, AT Ayoub (eds): Halophytes as a resource for livestock and for rehabilitation of degraded lands. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
Undersander DJ, Durgan BR, Kaminski AR, Doll JD, Worf GL, Schulte EE (1990) Alternative Field Crops Manual: Kochia. Available at: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/ kochia.html (accessed 3 Dec 2000)
Sherrod LB (1971) Nutritive value of Kochia scoparia. I. Yield and chemical composition at three stages of maturity. Agron J 63: 343–344
Clarke LD, West NE (1969) Germination of Kochia americana in relation to salinity. J Range Manag 22: 286–287
Mullenix W (1998) Kochia (Kochia spp.) biology outline and bibliography. Available at: http://www.agron.iastate.edu/~weeds/WeedBiolLibrary/kochiabiblio.html (accessed 3 Dec 2000)
Young JA, Evans RA, Stevens R, Everett RL (1981) Germination of Kochia prostrata seed. Agron J 73: 957–961
Khan MA, Gul B, Weber DJ (2000) Germination response of Salicornia rubra to temperature and salinity. J Arid Environ 45: 207–214
Kader MA, Jutzi SC (2004) Effects of thermal and salt treatments during imbibition on germination and seedling growth of sorghum at 42/19°C. J Agron Crop Sci 190: 35–38
Eberlin CV, Fore ZQ (1996) Kochia biology. Available at: http://mandakzerotill.org/book11. kochia.html (accessed 12 Dec 2002)
Everitt JH, Alaniz MA, Lee JB (1983) Seed germination characteristics of Kochia scoparia. J Range Manag 36: 646–648
Romo JT, Haferkamp MR (1987) Forage kochia germination response to temperature, water stress, and specific ions. Agron J 79: 27–30
Fischer AJ, Messersmith CG, Nalewaja JD, Duysen ME (2000) Interference between spring cereals and Kochia scoparia related to environment and photosynthetic pathways. Agron J 92: 173–181
Smart AJ, Schacht WH, Moser LE (2001) Predicting leaf/stem ratio and nutritive value in grazed and nongrazed big bluestem. Agron J 93: 1243–1249
Khan MA, Ungar IA (2001) Seed germination of Triglochin maritime as influenced by salinity and dormancy relieving compounds. Biologia Plantarum 44: 301–303
Khan MA, Gul B, Weber DJ (2001) Influence of salinity and temperature on germination of Kochia scoparia. Wetlands Ecol Manag 9: 483–489
Tobe KX, Li, Omasa K (2000) Seed germination and radicle growth of a halophyte, Kalidium capsicum (Chenopodiaceae). Ann Bot 85: 391–396
Charles-Edwards DA, Doley D, Rimmington GM (1986) Modelling plant growth and development. Academic Press, Australia
Kafi M, MahdaviDamghani M (2000) Mechanisms of environmental stress resistance in plants (in Persian). Ferdowsi University Press, Mashhad
Steppuhn H, Volkmar KM, Miller PR (2001) Comparing canola, field pea, dry bean, and durum wheat crops grown in saline media. Crop Sci 41: 1827–1833
Begue A, Desprat JF, Imbernon J, Baret F (1991) Radiation use efficiency of pearl millet in the Sahelian zone. Agric Forest Meteo 56: 93–110
Waller SS, Britton CM, Schmidt DK, Stubbendieck J, Sneva FA (1983) Germination characteristics of two varieties of Kochia prosterata (L.) Schrad. J Range Manag 36: 242–245
Noaman MN, El-Haddad E (2000) Effects of irrigation water salinity and leaching fraction on the growth of six halophyte species. J Agric Sci (Cambridge) 135: 279–2
Khan MA, Ungar IA, Showalter AM (2000) Effects of salinity on growth, water relations and ion accumulation of the subtropical perennial halophyte, Atriplex griffithi var. stocksii. Ann Bot 85: 225–232
Sinclair TR, Horie T (1989) Leaf nitrogen, photosynthesis, and crop radiation use efficiency: A review. Crop Sci 29: 90–98
Wyn Jones RG, Gorham J (1983) Osmoregulation. In: OL Lange, PS Nobel, CB Osmond, H Ziehler (eds): Encyclopedia of plant physiology. New Series, vol. 12C. Physiological Plant Ecology. Springer, Berlin, 35–38
Ashour, NI, Serag MS, Abd El-Haleem AK, Mekki BB (1997) Forage production from three grass species under saline irrigation in Egypt. J Arid Environ 37: 299–307
Smith DT, Wiese AF, Cooley AW (1975) Postemergence control of Kochia and Russian thistle in early spring. Agron J 67: 752–754
Bhardwaj SN, Saini Munshising AD, Singh KD (1988) Contribution of area, thickness and conductance of leaf in biomass production in upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Indian J Agric Sci 58: 100–
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Birkhäuser Verlag/Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kafi, M., Jami-al-Ahmadi, M. (2008). Study of kochia (Kochia scoparia) as a forage crop. In: Abdelly, C., Öztürk, M., Ashraf, M., Grignon, C. (eds) Biosaline Agriculture and High Salinity Tolerance. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8554-5_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-8554-5_17
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-7643-8553-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-7643-8554-5
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)