Salicornia sinus-persica: a high-yielding species for fodder production with seawater

A replicated field experiment was conducted to evaluate the growth, biomass yield, and quality of Salicornia sinus-persica Akhani compared to the Salicornia bigelovii Torr. Both species were planted in saline soils irrigated with seawater (60 dS/m) from the Persian Gulf. Results showed that under the experiment conditions, the biomass yield of S. sinus-persica was 1.8 times more than S. bigelovii. The plant height of S. sinus-persica was also higher by 27% than S. bigelovii. While the ash content was lower by 15% in S. bigelovii, the protein content did not differ significantly between the two species. In contrast, the neutral detergent fiber in S. sinus-persica biomass was significantly lower than in S. bigelovii. Likewise, the dry-matter intake, relative feed value, and forage quality of S. bigelovii were lower by 20%, 21%, and 30%, respectively, when compared to S. sinus-persica. Despite higher ash content in S. sinus-persica than in S. bigelovii, S. sinus-persica could be used as a high-yielding species for alternate forage production under seawater irrigation in coastal lands of arid and semi-arid regions.