Biomass Productivity and Water Use Efficiency Are Elevated in Forage Crops Compared with Grain Crops in Hydrothermally Limited Areas.

ABSTRACT: Insufficient precipitation and low temperatures can restrict grain yield but not necessarily vegetative growth in cold-arid regions. This indicates that forage production may be more suitable than grain cultivation in these environments while also meeting the increasing demand for livestock products. In this study, we compared the effects of cultivating forage maize (Zea mays L.) and forage oat (Avena sativa L.) with those of traditional grain crops, such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), in terms of aboveground biomass, crude protein yield, and water use efficiency (WUE). Across the four-year study, the results showed that aboveground biomass increased by 26-125% with oat (9.10 t ha^-1) and maize (13.7 t ha^-1

SUBMITTER: Ma Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12737194 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature