Comparison of Growth Characteristics and Productivity of Summer Forage Crops in Sihwa Reclaimed Land

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of species and varieties of summer forage crops on growth characteristics and productivity in Sihwa reclaimed land. The summer forage crops used in the trial were silage corn, sorghum×sudangrass hybrid(SSH), and proso millet. For each forage species, Gwangpyeongok(GPO), P15453, P1952 and P2088 were used for silage corn, and 877F, Green star, Honey chew, and Turbo gold cultivars were used for SSH. For proso millet, Ibaekchal, Geumsilchal and Manhongchal developed by the National Institute of Crop Science were used. Silage corn and SSH were sown on May 21, 2019 and proso millet on June 4, and harvested on September 2. There was no significant difference in plant and ear height of silage corn among varieties. P1543 was the highest and P2088 was the lowest in yield of silage corn, but there was no significant difference among treatments. Among the SSH, the plant height of 877F was the highest and Turbo gold variety had the smallest (p<0.05). As for the dry matter(DM) yields, 877F had the highest at 3,862 kg/ha and Green star had the lowest at 2,669 kg/ha (p<0.05). The fresh matter yield of proso millet was 15,778 kg/ha, which was higher than that of corn or SSH, The average dry matter yield was 4,780 kg/ha, and Ibaekchal variety had the highest DM yield compared to other varieties (p<0.05). P2088 had the highest TDN content and GPO was the lowest (p<0.05). As for the SSH, the TDN content of Green star and Honey chew varieties was significantly higher, and the RFV value was the lowest in Turbo gold. The average crude protein content of proso millet was 7.03%, and the highest TDN and RFV values were 64.36% and 106 in Geumsilchal. In the experiment of the germination rate of summer forage crops according to salt concentration, silage corn showed a germination rate of 83.1% even at 0.4% salinity. In particular, P2088 and P1921 varieties had more than 80% germination rate even at 0.6% salt concentration. As for the SSH, the germination rate of 877F was 93.3% even at 0.8% salinity, and 88.3% with Honey chew, indicating higher resistance to salt concentration compared to other varieties. Proso millet showed a high germination rate of 84.0 to 88.7% even at a salt concentration of 0.6%. Considering the above results, proso millet was recommended as the most suitable forage crop species in the Sihwa reclaimed land with high salt concentration, and the Ibaekchal variety is recommended as a suitable forage crop due to its high yield.