NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF MAIZE PLANT FODDER GROWN IN SPRING AND AUTUMN SEASON IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Present study was planned to assess the nutritional evaluation of maize plant grown in spring and autumn seasons. For this purpose, a total of 277 (n=130 in spring and n=147 in autumn season) samples were collected from high maize-growing localities i.e. Kasur, Pakpattan, Okara, Burewala, Sahiwal, Lahore and Melsi. These samples were analyzed for different parameters such as dry matter (DM) and Crude protein (CP) etc. It was noticed that during spring season the values of dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and starch were significantly higher than autumn season values. On the other hand, crude protein (CP) was higher in maize grown in autumn season. Furthermore, dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and starch were low in autumn sampling than spring season. The evident difference showed that during autumn season, at the time of growing season, the seasonal conditions are tough which gradually become favorable from nutrients point of view. While the maize grown in spring season found suitable environment which gradually harshen at the time of harvest. Therefore, it is suggested to cut the spring-crop early in spring during the month of May-June to have better nutritional value.