Effect of different clipping times on forage quality of three cereal crops at two locations of sulaimani region

The present study was conducted in Sulaimani Region at two different locations,Qlyasan and Kanipanka during the winter season of 2010-2011, to determine the effectof different clipping times{clipping at 80 days after sowing (1st clipping time), clippingat 90 days after sowing (2ndclipping time), clipping at 100 days after sowing (3dclippingtime), and clipping at 110 days after sowing (4th clipping time) as well as control (noclipping)}on forage quality of three cereal crops (wheat, barley and triticale) at Qlyasanlocation and the following day similarity at Kanipanka location. The design was splitplot within factorial experiment, the cereal crops were implemented in the main plots andarranged with complete randomized design (CRBD) and replicated three times, wherethe clipping times were implemented in sub plots. Means comparison were carried outusing least significant difference test (LSD) at 0.05 significant levels.The results of the present study as the average of both locations showed that the fourthclipping time exceeded the other clipping times in the characters: Acid Detergent Fiber(ADF%), Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL%), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF%), fiber%,starch% and Mg% with the values of 28.222%, 5.645%, 39.194% , 14.282%, 8.223%and 0.080% respectively, while the first clipping time exhibited maximum values of14.561% , 24.992%, 81.138%, 0.545% , 4.408%, 0.583% and 3.734% for the charactersAsh%, protein%, DP%, Ca%, K%, P% and fat% respectively.According to the results of this study we concluded that protein and digestible proteinwere differed significantly among species, where barley showed its superiority in thesecharacters and most quality traits compared to wheat and triticale, and The quality wasdiminished as maturity increased, the nutrient composition and forage quality of smallgrain plants change significantly as the plants develop; therefore, the earlier cutting datesare recommended to achieve this purpose.