
Prof. Yixing Zheng
Research Institute of Resource Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, China
Title: Evaluation of yield and quality of Moringa oleifera plantation in southwest China
Abstract:
Moringa oleifera as a forage plant has
been introduced to many countries in the world. The study assessed the effect
of different cultivation densities (plant spacing0.2 m×0.2 m,0.4 m×0.4 mand0.8 m×0.8 m, i.e. 250,000 plants ha-1, 62,500 plants ha-1, and 15,600
plants ha-1, respectively) and mowing heights (15, 30 and60 cm) on the biomass production and
nutritional quality of Moringa oleifera plantation in order to improve the economic benefits of local cultivation in southwest China. The
regrowth of moringa plantation was harvested during two annual cycles. Twelve harvests
were completed after the first regrowth harvest, with harvests 1–6 carrying out during the rainy season (from
May to October) and harvests 7–12 during the dry season (from November to April).
The results showed the highest fresh matter and dry matter (DM) yields were
found in the cultivation density of 250,000 plants ha-1 with the mowing
height of30 cmduring
the two annual cycles. The 250,000 plants ha-1 cultivation density
not only yielded the highest fresh and dry matter (about 8.43-76.41 Mg ha-1 and 1.66-12.85 Mg ha-1, respectively), but also the highest fine and
coarse fractions of moriga throughout the two consecutive evaluation years in
both the rainy and dry seasons. The30 cmmowing height produced the highest fresh and dry matter (25.18-41.53
Mg ha-1 and 5.28-8.27 Mg ha-1, respectively) during
the wet season, while the15 cmmowing height produced the highest biomass during the dry season, 4.38-13.16 Mg
ha-1 fresh matter and 0.82-2.26 Mg ha-1 dry matter. These
data imply that the lower mowing height should be used in areas with low
rainfall to obtain higher moringa productivity. Additionally, the crude protein
content was within the range of 235.3-257.6 gkg-1 DM in the wet season, which
was higher than in the dry season (224.1-232.8 gkg-1 DM), and was remarkablely
affected by cultivation density especially in the rainy season. In contrast to
the rainy season, there was much higher the crude fibre (about192.7 gkg-1 DM), neutral
detergent fibre (approximately293.1 gkg-1 DM), acid detergent
fibre (about208.4 gkg-1 DM), DM (up to173.7 gkg-1) and ash (over94.5 gkg-1 DM) contents during the dry
season. This study also indicated that cultivation density fairly influenced the DM yield and ash
contents in the wet season, and the crude fibre content in the wet and dry
season. There were no significant differences between the different cultivation
densities in crude lipid content (up to 22.9-26.1 gkg-1 DM), while the
cultivation density distinctly affected in vitro DM
digestibility (approximately 766.3-853.6 gkg-1 DM) especially in the rainy season. The crude protein, in vitro
DM digestibility, crude lipid, neutral detergent fibre and ash contents in both rainy
and dry seasons were clearly affected by mowing height, whereas the crude fibre
content in dry season and the acid detergent fibre content in wet season were obviously impacted by mowing
height. These results imply that moringa with a balanced fibre component and
high protein content is a excellent forage crop especially for ruminants.
Keywords: Moringa oleifera; biomass production; nutritional quality; cultivation
density; mowing height
Biography:
Dr. Zheng mainly engaged in the introduction, cultivation and technology development of special economic forest in dry-hot valley area of southwest China. As the project leader, he presided over 3 National Natural Science Foundation projects, and 12 national and provincial scientific research projects. He has published more than 50 publications, and more than 20 academic papers in domestic and foreign core journals as the first author or corresponding author, including 13 SCI source journals (including 6 papers of SCI District 1, Chinese Academy of Sciences). Since 2017, he has been the special reviewer of Industrial Crops and Products (SCI District 1, Chinese Academy of Sciences; 2020 Impact Factor: 5.645), a top journal in the field of international economic forest research.