COMPARISON OF CURRENT FORAGE YIELD AND SOME FORAGE QUALITY PARAMETERS OF DIFFERENT RANGELAND SITES

This study was conducted in the pasture sites that are traditionally grazed and long-term rented in Ko.k Village of Yakutiye district of Erzurum Province in 2017 and 2018 to determine current forage yield, crude protein content (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) ratios, relative feed values (RFV), digestible thy matter (DDM) and dry matter intake (DMI) of pasture sites. According to the results of the study in traditionally grazed pasture site, current forage yield, crude protein content and relative feed value (RFV) were higher than rented pasture site while NDF and ADF ratios were lower, DDM and DMI values were lower in long-term rented pasture site than that of the traditionally grazed site. The obtained results show that the current forage yield in the long-term rented pasture site is not sufficient to protect the soil against erosion, in other words, the grazing intensity is very high. For this reason, it is necessary to take measures primarily in terms of grazing intensity to ensure sustainable pasture using in the rented pasture site.