Impact of Seeding Techniques and Planting Density on Productivity and Profitability of Oat Cultivar (Supergreen Oat)

Abstract

Less fodder availability in the Rabi season causes a dramatic reduction in Pakistan's livestock sector's production capacity. In this regard, a field investigation was carried out for two years (2016-17 to 2017-18) at the Research Area of Fodder Research Sargodha to assess the most suitable seeding techniques and planting density for the new oat cultivar “Supergreen Oat”. Three seeding techniques were tested, i.e., 15 cm, 30 cm, and 45 cm apart rows, and three planting densities of 67.5 kg ha-1, 80 kg ha-1, and 92.5 kg ha-1. The experiment was sown during the first week of November each year by using seed rate according to treatments of new oat cultivars “Supergreen Oat”. Data regarding average forage yield, agronomic yield attributes, and economics of both variable factors, row spacing, and seeding rate were recorded. Perspective indicated statistically significant differences among the treatments. Row spacing of 15 cm apart lines produced the maximum forage yield (116.53 t ha^-1) as compared to other sowing techniques, and the seeding rate (80 kg ha^-1) performed better (118.58 t ha^-1) as compared to both seeding rates. The interactive effect of both variable factors revealed that the seeding rate 80 kg ha^-1 (SR₂) performed better when sown at 15 cm (RS₁) apart line to line (127.26 t ha^-1) and also showed a maximum benefit cost ratio (2.85).