Investigate different nutritional regimens on some forage quantitative and qualitative traits of Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss under water deficit stress

To investigate the effects of fertilizer regimes on quantitative and qualitative traits of Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss, a field experiment at three replications with the Split Plate arrangement in a completely randomized block design was conducted in the Research Field of Tarbiat Modares University during the 2017-18 growing season.Water deficit stress (irrigation after discharging 20 (optimal irrigation), 40 (mild water deficit stress), 60 (moderate water deficit stress) and 80% (severe water deficit stress) of water used (available water)) in the main plot and fertilizer regime (urea, nitroxin, vermicompost, azocompost and no fertilizer) in the subplot were studied. The results showed that the highest leaf fresh weight (1797 kg ha-1) and total biomass (2957 kg ha-1) were obtained by application of urea in mild water deficit stress condition and the highest dry matter digestibility percentage was observed in azocompost treatment in moderate water deficit stress condition (57.8%). The highest crude protein was produced in severe water deficit stress condition (19.72%) and moderate water deficit stress (18.4%), respectively.. The highest percentage of water soluble carbohydrate and neutral detergent fiber were obtained from no fertilizer in moderate water deficit stress (22.06%) and application of urea in severe water deficit stress conditions, respectively. Mild water deficit stress application to produce high biomass is recommended for Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss. According to the results, application of urea in mild water deficit stress was selected as the best treatment to produce forage 32% more than control.