CHAPTER III HAY CROPS - CULTIVATION

METHODS

No crop is grown for hay alone; most of those described are used for
sown pasture, or are field crops such as cereals or pulses. The cultural
techniques and levels of input for other uses may differ from those for
haymaking, and therefore that information should be sought elsewhere.
Cultivation for hay is discussed, with the emphasis on techniques suited
to small- and medium-scale farms. Hay crops are grown on arable land,
where they must compete with other field crops on the grounds of
profitability. As haymaking costs are proportional not only to the area
worked, but also to the weight of the crop, intensive to semi-intensive
methods aiming at high yields per unit area are therefore generally
advocated.
Where land scarcity is the major limiting factor, increased yield per unit
area may be the best way of improving fodder availability. This was
demonstrated in Pakistan in an FAO-assisted project (Bhatti and Khan,
1996). Fodder crops cover some 19% of Pakistan's total cropped area,
but there is still a chronic forage deficit; the area under fodder remained
static during 1977 - 1994, at around 2 600 000 ha, while yields rose over
20%, from 17.4 t/ha to 21.4 t/ha, during the period. Well-grown crops of
proven cultivars can produce 60 to 80 t/ha of green fodder (most fodder
is irrigated), but there are still problems in assuring the supply of good
seed and planting material at farm level.
In another study, in Punjab, Hanjra (1996) gives the results of 200 onfarm trials carried out over three years with the poorest and smallest
dairy farmers in central Punjab. The "improved" methods mostly had
three parameters which differed from the farmers' own methods: seed
quality; sowing method (including land preparation); and date of sowing.
The results are presented in Table 2. Yields are below the very high
levels attained on research units and some large farms, but the effect of
good seed, sown at the correct time, on a well prepared seed bed - all
cheap inputs - is striking, with yields improved by 20 to 40%, except for
sorghum, where no improved fodder cultivars are available.
Table 2. Yields of fodders with traditional and improved cultivation in the
Punjab

Yield (t/ha; green)

Crop

Percentage increase
Traditional Improved method

Sorghum

18.5

20.0

7.5

52.5

Maize

15.5

19.4

20.1

Berseem

26.3

38.5

30.9

Lucerne

25.0

34.4

27.3

Oats

15.0

24.6

39.0

Berseem+sarson+oats

32.0

41.3

22.5

Hybrid sorghum(1)

Note: (1) Hybrid sorghum is multi-cut.

Land preparation
Clearing and levelling
Where fodder is cultivated for hay-making, the land must be prepared for
mowing as well as put into a fit state for sowing and establishing the
crop. Stones, stumps and termite mounds should be removed. Land with
a long history of cultivation by the plough may require little or no
treatment, but any field to be sown must be cleared of all obstructions to
harvesting equipment. Under rainfed conditions, land levelling to
facilitate mowing, as well as to make sowing of small seeds at even
depth possible, is often necessary: even small humps and hollows make
sowing at a uniform, shallow depth impossible and lead to gaps and
uneven stands. For irrigated crops, of course, proper levelling is
essential for effective water distribution. In-field irrigation structures

should be designed to facilitate harvest, especially for perennial and

multi-cut crops.
A firm, level seed bed is necessary for all fodders for hay, and for smallseeded pasture-type crops it must also be fine. Preparation methods
vary with the type of farm and soil conditions. Whatever the means of
primary and secondary cultivations, rolling in the final stages of seed-bed
preparation, where possible, is advisable for all small-seeded crops. In
tropical and semi-arid areas, work should follow the contour and, where
necessary, precautions against washout should be taken. Most fodders
have excellent erosion control qualities, once established, but the time of
sowing and a short while thereafter are critical.
Fertilizing
Hay is a demanding crop and mineral deficiencies must be made good
before sowing. It is a highly extractive crop, since all is removed from the
field. Farmyard manure is rarely returned to fodder fields in developing
countries, although it may be used on other parts of the farm, especially
for horticultural crops. In large areas of the irrigated subtropics where
fodder cultivation is important, most of the dung is used as fuel. In
mechanized, intensive, large-scale dairying, however, the excreta is now
handled in aqueous solution - slurry - which is widely used for topdressing grass, adding fertility (from concentrates and other bought in
feeds) and disposing of a difficult by-product in an ecologically benign
way.
Soil fertility status should be determined before pasture installation.
Local knowledge may allow a reasonable estimate to be made, but
analysis may be necessary. While levels of laboratory accuracy may be
very high, the value of analyses are only as good as sampling accuracy,
so care should be taken, and advice sought if necessary on sampling
methodology.
Phosphorus (symbol: P) is a major nutrient for all crops and its value is
well established for fodder and grassland. Soils are usually deficient in
available phosphorus unless they have been heavily fertilized in the
past. It is essential for root and seedling establishment and should be
present in the seedbed in adequate quantity and in a readily available
form. It is also very necessary for legume persistence, and phosphatic
top-dressings are frequently necessary to support persistence. It is
progressively fixed by soil minerals after application, and on some
tropical soils this process may be rapid and severe and almost
permanent. However, there is thereafter a slow release, on which the

sward relies for development. In grazed swards, much of the phosphorus

is recycled through droppings. In hay crops, of course, this is not the
case.
Potassium (symbol: K) is an essential nutrient, with a relatively high
concentration in green leaves. Hays contain 2 - 3% in their DM, so it is a
very potassium-extracting crop (a two-ton crop would remove the
equivalent of 55 kg of potash fertilizer). It is required to complement
nitrogen where high yields are the aim, as in hay production. Soil
availability varies widely. Clovers are very sensitive to potassium
deficiency.
Sulphur (symbol: S) is required in about the same quantity as
phosphorus by plants, and legumes are often very responsive. However,
it is much less used consciously as a fertilizer. Soil availability varies
very widely. Some of the older fertilizers contained large amounts of
sulphur; single superphosphate contains more sulphur than phosphorus;
sulphate of ammonia supplies a lot of sulphur; basic slag, which was a
major pasture fertilizer in industrial countries, contained appreciable
amounts. More concentrated fertilizers with little sulphur are now
common (partly to reduce transport and handling costs) and the steelmaking process which produced slag is now little used, so the possibility
of sulphur supply limiting production must be kept in mind.
Trace elements, or micronutrients, are limiting in some areas and
application of tiny quantities in such cases can have spectacular effects.
However, they should only be used, including cocktail mixtures, when a
deficiency has been identified.
Nitrogen (symbol: N) is, of course, essential to all crop growth and its
supply is one of the major limiting factors in forage production. An
adequate nitrogen supply is essential, either as fertilizer or through
biological fixation by legumes. Leguminous crops with effective
nodulation will fix an appreciable amount of atmospheric nitrogen and
add it to the overall farm nitrogen balance, but inputs of non-nitrogenous
mineral fertilizer are needed to support this, as are increased
management inputs in the case of mixed swards. For hay crops, heavy
applications of N, including maintenance top-dressings between
harvests, are limited by the resultant increasing density of sward, which
hinders drying and can cause lodging and subsequent harvesting
difficulties and losses. In small-scale farming situations, unbalanced use
of fertilizer is a common fault: for unsophisticated users, the eyecatching responses to nitrogen top-dressing tend to eclipse the essential

basal inputs of phosphorus and other necessary minerals. Nitrogenous

fertilizer on legumes is wasteful and depresses biological nitrogen
fixation.
Dressings for establishment will vary greatly according to local
conditions, while maintenance fertilizer will depend on the management
system. Levels should be decided according to local experience and
research. A basal dressing of phosphatic (P) fertilizer is almost always
necessary, and potash (K) is frequently needed; for non-legumes some
nitrogen is necessary in the seed bed. Sometimes sulphur is deficient
and leguminous crops, especially lucerne, can give large responses.
Calcium (symbol: Ca) is necessary for growth and legume nodulation.
Under humid temperate conditions, heavy periodic liming, to raise the
pH, is sometimes done. This is not suitable for tropical acid soils, but
these may benefit from light dressings (600 kg/ha) of lime as a nutrient.
Micronutrient deficiencies should be dealt with where reported.
The forms of fertilizer used will often depend on local availability. For
example, single superphosphate is recognized as being the best
phosphate source for most fodders and pastures, but its phosphorus
content is relatively low (17 to 18% P2O5, as opposed to 42% in triple
superphosphate), so it is not interesting if long transport is involved.

Seed and planting material

The choice of crops for different situations and conditions is discussed in
Chapter VIII. It is always advisable to use clean, healthy seed of the best
adapted cultivars available. In developed countries, the pasture and
fodder seed market poses few problems, although the availability of
seed in bulk tends to be limited to a relatively narrow range of species
and cultivars. In many developing countries, the fodder seed situation is
difficult, especially for specialized fodder and pasture plants (as opposed
to cereals or pulses used as fodders). Often, national priority has, in the
past and probably correctly, been placed on producing seed of the major
subsistence and cash crops, with fodder taking second place. The
importance of livestock in most small-scale farming systems, and the
present need for on-farm fodder production, however, mean that this
imbalance should be rectified. The international seed market often
provides only cultivars suited to a limited range of conditions (whatever
the claims of the merchants) and is dominated by countries with a large
internal fodder market, notably Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

Traditional fodder landraces, in developing countries, are often only

available as farmers' seed from unselected crops, of very doubtful
cleanness and purity. It has often been clearly demonstrated that fodder
yields per unit area can be greatly increased, often more than doubled,
by using good seed of locally proven cultivars and landraces. Many
countries have the knowledge and basic seed within their research
systems; the problem is how to develop a sustainable, local commercial
production and distribution chain. In the sections on individual crops,
cultivars will be mentioned; it must, however, be kept in mind that
although a cultivar has performed well under similar agro-ecological
conditions on another continent or in another country, it does not mean
that it can be transferred to a new area with confidence. For example,
local disease patterns differ, therefore fodder sorghums selected abroad
and imported to Africa, where there is a strong disease challenge, often
perform very poorly.

Irrigated hay
Fodder is a widespread irrigated crop in arid and semi-arid zones. Under
small-scale farming conditions, usually within a mixed farming system,
the greatest areas of cultivated fodder in the developing world are on
irrigated lands in the Near East and the Indian subcontinent, often in
wheat-rice farming systems and associated with milch buffaloes.
Irrigation areas specifically for fodder are rare in the small-scale farming
and pastoral sectors, but that in Xinjiang (Altai) (see Case Study 4 in
Chapter XI) is a notable exception. In the large-scale sector, however,
highly specialized fodder growing, again often associated with dairying,
is common. Irrigation layouts should be so designed as to present the
minimum hindrance to agricultural and haymaking equipment and should
allow easy access for transport of the bulky crop. An adequate drainage
system, to allow the fields to be dried off before mowing, is highly
desirable.
Components of an irrigation system
Irrigation is not an end in itself, nor does the simple supply of water and
seed to land assure a sustainable and economic increase in output.
There is a complex interaction between the land and water base,
agricultural practices and cropping choices, which interact on the system
and affect its production, profitability and labour efficiency. The
management and maintenance of irrigation require discipline; traditional
systems depend on a stable community decision-making system, and all
interventions require, well before proposal or execution, discussion at

both household and community level. Irrigated farming communities are

well aware of the systems' complexities. The main components are: (i)
production activities (choice of crops, cropping and livestock system); (ii)
on-farm water management (optimization of yield, and use of labour and
inputs); (iii) the delivery system; (iv) the water supply system
(relationship with local hydraulic system, reliability, quality, timing of
supply); and (v) downstream implications (waterlogging, salinity, disposal
of drainage). These are considered in more detail in the following
sections.
Production activities
The choice of crops and cropping mixture is determined, within any
climatic zone, by water availability, water quality, soils and the local
market (both for sale of produce and supply of inputs). Where water is
the limiting factor, the producers' aim is often to maximize return per unit
of water.
On-farm water management
It is of the utmost importance that best use be made of the water
delivered to the farm in order to optimize yield, not only of individual
crops, but also of the farm crop mix, to optimize water-use efficiency,
and to obviate land degradation due to waterlogging or salinization. The
scheduling of water application to suit the plant-soil-water relationship of
the site is essential. In addition to a good delivery system, in-field work is
necessary. Proper land preparation, including levelling and grading, is
essential to facilitate water application, economize on labour and power
and to optimize input use (e.g., watering must be so designed that
fertilizer remains within the root-run of the crops and is not lost in the
drainage water.
These operations are essential to the correct running of an irrigated
farm; their application requires knowledge of crop agronomy, land and
water management
The delivery system
The system between the offtake and the farmers' fields requires both
management and maintenance. Management must assure equity in
water apportionment and assure the timing of each farmer's water
delivery. It must also ensure that the canals and works are properly
maintained; prior agreement on how this will be done is a prerequisite to
any interventions. Maintenance, usually through communal participation,

is arduous and can be time-consuming. It is often possible, through

some redesigning and modification, to provide systems that are less
liable to siltation and therefore require less maintenance.
The supply system
Two main aspects must be studied: the effect of an offtake on water
availability for other areas downstream, and possible negative effects on
the hydrological system. The final decision on most major offtakes,
therefore, cannot be decided by discussion with the potential users
alone, as all parties likely to be affected must be consulted. Modern,
solid structures not only greatly reduce maintenance labour but allow a
modification and prolongation of the cropping system by permitting
irrigation over a much longer season.
Downstream implications
Irrigation systems can have undesirable effects on land downstream
through salinization, waterlogging and damage caused as a result of
drainage water disposal. Both the design of the delivery and the
management of the water at farm level are involved. It is very important
that these aspects be taken into account before interventions are
undertaken. Since the user community may not be directly affected by
the downstream damage, such effects must be judged in the light of their
wider community and environmental effect.
Types of irrigation
Surface irrigation, in which the water is distributed through flooding by
basin, border and furrow, is the ancient, traditional system, which still
accounts for the vast majority of the world's irrigated farmland. It is likely
that most irrigated small-scale farming fodder will be watered in this way.
Surface water is distributed in several ways, and the main ones are
discussed briefly below insofar as they affect fodder work.
The subject is very complicated. Standard texts should be consulted
(such as Kay, 1986) for information on layout of irrigation units, their
organization, and details of irrigation methodology. Crop water
requirements and guidelines for their prediction are discussed in another
FAO publication by Doorenbos (FAO, 1984). In considering irrigation of
hay, however, care should be taken that the method chosen does not
unduly hinder the use of whatever machinery is foreseen and that there
will be adequate access at haymaking time for the type of transport to be
used to remove the crop.

Basin irrigation
Basin irrigation is the oldest and simplest system: a field is divided into
one or more basins; each basin is a piece of level land surrounded by a
bund which retains water until it has soaked into the soil. It can be
adapted to many crops and farming systems, but for fodder production it
is very labour demanding and practically precludes any mechanization of
harvesting, unless very large basins can be used. The in-field bunds
have to be removed at each cutting, and in the case of multi-cut crops,
reconstructed thereafter.
Border irrigation
Border irrigation (also known as border-check and border strips)
resembles basin irrigation in that the fields are divided into units by
bunds, but borders slope away from the farm channel in the direction of
water flow. They are not level and the method of irrigating is different.
The water is not retained on the field to soak in, but soaks in as it flows
over the land, so it is important to use the correct flow for the correct
duration to ensure that the correct amount of water infiltrates into the
soil. This system is much better suited to haymaking than is basin
irrigation. If cultivation and/or harvest is mechanized, border width
should fit the equipment to be used.
Furrow irrigation
This is the most widely used system for row-crops: water does not flow
over the entire soil area, but is confined to furrows between the crop
rows, and infiltrates into the bottom and sides of the furrow. It is excellent
for large fodder crops such as Napier grass, maize and sorghum, but it is
not suited to hay corps. If cultivation and/or harvest is mechanized, row
width should suit the equipment to be used.
Spate irrigation
Here the supply is dependent on torrents with only occasional flow, as
after heavy rain or snow-melt. Traditional offtakes are very labour
intensive, can often only be used when river levels are low, and may be
completely destroyed by snow-melt floods in summer at a season when
irrigated cropping can be very productive.
Qanat

This is a system (also called karez) of tapping underground springs by

gently sloping tunnelling to transport it (underground) to cultivated land.
It is widespread in parts of Iran and Afghanistan and is used as far east
as the Turfan Depression in China.
Piped systems
Various systems of (usually underground) piping of water have been
devised to reduce the enormous wastage of open-channel systems and
to thus free more land for cultivation. The water is usually supplied to the
field through up-pipes with valves (risers) in the case of underground
pipes, or through gated pipes where they are on the surface. Accurate
levelling and some in-field structures are still required for such systems.
Alfalfa risers have their valves just below mean soil level so that once
the crop is established the mower and other machinery can pass over
them unobstructed.
Sprinkler irrigation
This requires a considerable investment in equipment, but has the
advantage that great investment in land-levelling, drainage and other
infrastructures is not needed; less land is occupied with irrigation
structures; water is more efficiently used; and there is minimal danger of
seepage losses and salinization through rising water tables. It does
away with the need for in-field structures which hinder fodder harvesting.
Centre pivot
Centre pivot systems are large, computer controlled sprinkler systems
which rotate around a central axis. They are widely used for fodder crops
in semi-arid or desert areas, such as Saudi Arabia and California. They
are primarily for large-scale commercial farms where fodder is a highvalue crop, and are well suited to the task.
Cold season watering of hay-fields
Watering of natural hay fields before the thaw is traditional in parts of
Russia and Mongolia. Water is diverted from springs and streams on to
areas reserved for hay, with or without some in-field structures, and is
stored by freezing on the surface. Traditional water-spreading methods
practised in the Mongolian mountain-and-steppe zone involve sporadic
diversion of streams to develop ice-sheets over hay land which will,
thereafter, melt at the onset of the growing season