THE EFFECT OF COWPEA INTERCROPPING AND DIFFERENT FERTILIZER LEVELS ON NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF NAPIER GRASSManisha Chaudhary, Rajeev, sourabh Kumar, Shailja Sharma, Suhailfayaz, Kritika and Ramandeep SinghAbstract The field experiment was conducted to check the optimization of fertilizer requirement for Napier grass and cowpea intercropping system at the farm of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab during kharif season 2022. Study was conducted on total twelve treatment combinations, I1 (Sole napier with 100, 75, and 125% RDF), I2 (Sole Cowpea with 100, 75, and 125% RDF), I3 (Napier grass + cowpea intercropping in 1:2 ratio with 100, 75, and 125% RDF), and I4 (Napier grass + cowpea intercropping in 1:3 ratio with 100, 75, and 125% RDF) replicated thrice in Factorial RBD design. The results showed that the overall best quality fodder was obtained from I4F3- Napier and Cowpea Intercropping (1:3) + 125 % RDF in which more crude protein, ash content, fat was recorded which is considered good source of feed for livestock and which was at par with I4F1- Napier and Cowpea Intercropping (1:3) + 100% RDF. Moreover, this treatment recorded less fibre, ADF and NDF which is difficult to digest by livestock. Hence, it is considered best for feed intake and also increase performance of dairy animals. The lowest crude protein was found in I1F2- Sole Napier + 75% RDF. Intercropping increased the nutrient levels in soil and hence improved the uptake. Therefore, we can say that intercropping with legumes and 25% increase in fertilizer dose can improve the overall fodder quality of Napier grass which makes it beneficial for feeding to cattle. |