Abstract:

Animal husbandry plays an important role in the livelihood of inhabitants of the mountainous region in Northern Nepal. Enhanced forage production capacity is one of the main priorities of agricultural technology in this region. To screen for oat varieties suitable for cultivation in the mountainous region of Northern Nepal， we conducted a comparative study of 12 oat （Avena sativa） varieties （Everleaf， Titan， Baler 1， Monida， Kona， Lena， Qingyin No.1， Qinghai 444， Qinghai sweet oat， Longyan No.2， Longyan No.3， Kamadhenu） in Langtang from May to October in 2019. We measured their phenological development， plant height， fresh and dry （hay） yields， ear content， stem to leaf ratio， and nutrient content. Only six varieties completed the growth cycle：Monida， Kona， Qingyin No.1， Qinghai 444， Qinghai sweet oat， and Kamadhenua. The growth period ranged from 115 to 141 days， and only six varieties reached the milking stage. The plant height of the 12 varieties ranged from 134.8 to 177.7 cm， and five of them （Titan， Qinghai 444， Qinghai sweet oat， Monida， and Lena） had plant heights 6.3%-20.4% greater than that of Kamadhenu， a local forage variety. The hay yields of Qinghai sweet oat， Qinghai 444， and Monida were 14723.0， 13491.0， and 13369.6 kg·ha^-1， respectively， which were 36.0%， 24.7%， and 23.6% higher， respectively， than that of Kamadhenu. The leaf to stem ratios of Baler 1， Kona， and Titan were 0.40， 0.38， and 0.36， respectively， much higher than that of Kamadhenu. The dry matter content ranged from 93.5% to 95.6%； the crude protein content ranged from 5.7% to 9.9%； the total ash content ranged from 4.4% to 6.9%； the neutral detergent fiber content ranged from 68.2% to 78.4%； and the acid detergent fiber content ranged from 39.3% to 48.7%. The crude protein content of Titan was 1.57 times that of the local Nepalese variety Kamadhenu （P<0.01）. A principal component analysis was used to evaluate the 10 agronomic characteristics of the above varieties， and showed that Qinghai sweet oat， Monida， Qinghai 444， and Titan are suitable varieties for cultivation in the mountainous region of Northern Nepal.

Key words: mountainous Northern Nepal, oat, yield, nutritional quality