Efficiency of Japanese Millet (Echinochloa Frumentacea) Fodder Crop Cultivation in the Arid Steppe

Abstract

Japanese millet is a relatively new, valuable fodder crop. 100 kg of Japanese millet hay contains 54.0-60.5 kg of feed units or 6.9 kg of digestible protein. Besides, Japanese millet makes it possible to obtain environmentally friendly food, since the plant is not affected by diseases and pests, therefore, the use of pesticides is not required when cultivating it. However, in the northern regions of Kazakhstan, Japanese millet is an unconventional culture and is practically not used. Therefore, it is necessary to study the efficiency of the cultivation of Japanese millet in the soil and climatic conditions of the steppe zone of Northern Kazakhstan. The study aimed to compare the efficiency of the cultivation of a non-traditional fodder crop (Japanese millet) with traditional fodder crops in the steppe zone of Northern Kazakhstan to provide farm animals with a diverse and feed-valuable diet. The study was carried out in 2017-2019 at the station of the Kazakh Agrotechnical University named after S. Seifullin, located on dark chestnut soils of the Akmola region of Northern Kazakhstan. It was observed that in comparison with the traditional fodder crop (Sudan grass) Japanese millet exceeded it both in terms of profitability (it was higher by 13.7% when cultivated for feed and by 45.8% when cultivated for grain) and in terms of energy efficiency (it increased by 1.9 times when cultivated for feed and 0.7 times when cultivated for grain). During the cultivation of Japanese millet for feed, an additional net income was received from 1 ha (392 USD), and with grain, this amount equaled 622 USD. Thus, Japanese millet is a promising fodder crop for cultivation in the conditions of Northern Kazakhstan.