Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is a dual nature crop, which is used for food as well as fodder, depending on plant ideotype. Sorghum forage is important for ruminants, but a major constraint is the anti-nutritional factor dhurrin, a hydrocyanic acid (HCN) producing glucoside. There are several additional effects of dhurrin, which reduce the nutritional value of sorghum fodder for livestock. This two-year study was aimed to evaluate the variation among diverse sorghum varieties, specifically for HCN content, forage yield and stem sugar content (brix value) under arid climate in Pakistan. Nine sorghum varieties were used for this experiment: JS-2002, Chakwal sorghum, Lines CS-17, Super late, PAK SS-2, Johar, JS-263, Sargodha-2011 and YSS-98. Results reveal that Sargodha-2011 had superior morphological traits for fresh forage and dry biomass yield, and stem brix value, compared to other varieties. Higher HCN contents were recorded in Super late compared to other varieties. Significant negative correlation of HCN with yield showed that improvement in yield will reduce the HCN content of sorghum. In conclusion, sorghum variety SGD-11 was shown best performing for higher biomass yield and brix value, and lower HCN content compared to other tested varieties under arid climate of Thal, Pakistan.
Indigofera oblongifolia Forssk. locally known as ‘Goilia or Jhil’, is an important underutilized leguminous browse shrub for small ruminants in hot arid region of India and traditionally utilized for its medicinal value. Its irregular patchy distribution was observed in depression of rocky areas, bunds of farmer fields and along the depression on the road sides in Jaisalmer and Pali district during collection. Soil samples collected from Pali district have high level of pH and electrical conductivity as compared to Jaisalmer which indicates its suitability to saline areas. It exhibited good plant growth under Jodhpur conditions with respect to plant height (171.5 cm), number of branches (47.9) and canopy diameter (100–210 and 115–180 cm in north-south and east-west direction, respectively) after 12 months of planting in fields under protected condition. Morphological characterization showed the presence of high coefficient of variation (%) in the number of raceme per branch (27.3) followed by raceme length (22.9), pod length (21.0) and least in pod width (8.1). Phytochemical results revealed that leaves of I. oblongifolia contained considerable amounts of total phenols (31.44 mg g−1), flavonoids (29.73 mg g−1) and antioxidant capacity (6.26 FRU g−1) which make its suitability as a browse species to ruminants in rangelands. Along with these finding, its traditional knowledge and utilization are detailed in this paper as to hasten further research on its various aspects for its sustainable utilization in rangelands or in alternate land use systems in the Indian hot arid region.