Survey the potential of halophytes as livestock forage (Case study: rangelands of Houze Sultan-Qom)

Important and influential factors on livestock production in arid areas are limited water resources, increasing salinity and lack of food. Halophytes are especially important in saline habitats as alternative forage sources. Forage quality is one of the main factors determining the nutritional requirements of livestock and subsequently the grazing capacity of rangelands. Determination of forage quality of rangeland species is one of the fundamental factors for proper rangeland management. The quality of forage varies in different places and times and different factors affect it. Awareness of forage quality of halophytes at each phenological stage, not only helps beneficiaries in arid and desert areas to select suitable plant species for planting in haloculture programs, but also sets the appropriate time for grazing to achieve greater livestock performance in saline lands. In the present study, the effects of phenological stages on eight forage quality traits were investigated for three halophytes ie., Halocnemum strobilaceum, Nitraria schoberi and Suaeda aegyptiaca. Plant samples were collected in vegetative, flowering, and seeding stages from saline lands in the margin of Houze Sultan, Qom province. Data were analyzed by a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design. Duncan mean comparison test was performed. The results showed that the effects of species and phenological stages on forage quality were significant (p < /em><0.01). In general, the results of this study indicated the superiority of Ha. strobilaceum in terms of nutritional value compared to Ni. schoberi and Su. aegyptiaca, so that it can be considered as a new source of forage in the lands affected by salinity.