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Agronomic Factors in Evaluating Forage Crops II. Predicting Fiber Components (NDF, ADF, ADL) from Crop Leafiness
Author(s) -
Kalu B. A.,
Fick G. W.,
Soest P. J.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
journal of agronomy and crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.095
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-037X
pISSN - 0931-2250
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-037x.1990.tb00782.x
Subject(s) - neutral detergent fiber , forage , fiber , crop , agronomy , canopy , lignin , maturity (psychological) , linear regression , biology , zoology , mathematics , botany , chemistry , psychology , developmental psychology , statistics , organic chemistry
The relationship of the stage‐to‐stage changes in alfalfa herbage leaf percentage and the corresponding changes in fiber components represented by neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) was tested in alfalfa crop diverse in stand and canopy ages, stages of maturity harvested across seasons in two separate years. Regression analyses showed that for all fiber components, leaf percentage consistently provided highly significant linear relationships for predicting herbage fiber content; NDF (r 2 = 0.915), ADF (r 2 = 0.937) and, ADL (r 2 = 0.851). These were highly comparable with the application of the mean stage by weight (MSW) system for predicting NDF (r 2 = 0.946), ADF (r 2 = 0.891) and ADL (r 2 = 0.841) thus indicating the practical use of leaf percentage as a good alternative approach for predicting fiber content of the alfalfa crop.