Cutting Management of Dual Purpose Wheat Cultivars: A New Approach for Increasing Fodder Availability

North West Himalaya Region of India faces serious shortage of green fodder up to 60 percent, particularly in winter months of November to March. Possibility of augmenting green fodder availability from cultivated lands, which is very limited (10% of geographical area) is explored by cultivation of dual purpose wheat, providing green fodder a part from grain production. Influence of wheat variation and their cutting schedule on fodder and grain yield were studied. Selected wheat varieties included VL Gehun 829, VL Gehun 616 and advance lines of VL 818 and VL 840, respectively. Significantly higher green fodder yield (69.32 q/ha) was obtained from VL 818 than under VL Gehun 616 and VL Gehun 829, while it was at per with fodder yield of VL 840. Cutting of green fodder scheduled at 70 and 85 DAS resulted no significant difference in yield. However, it showed the possibility of extended availability of green fodder without affecting the production the grain and straw yield obtained under VL Gehun 829 (60.05 q and 121.5 q/ha, respectively) were statistically superior to VL Gehun 616 and VL 818 and at par with VL 840. Harvest of green fodder affected grain yield of wheat up to 7% through it was not statistically significant. Therefore, it can be concluded that among the different cultivar VL Gehun 829 and VL 840 are the most suitable for dual purpose and can be cut after 70 and 85 DAS for green fodder as both stage of cut produced at par green fodder, grain and straw yields, thereby ensuring fodder and food security in the region.