Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) as a novel pasture species for dairy sheep in the Mediterranean conditions of Sardinia and Israel

Hello

English

Quick User Guide

Search...

Volcani treasures

About

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) as a novel pasture species for dairy sheep in the Mediterranean conditions of Sardinia and Israel

Year: 

2005

Source of publication :

Small Ruminant Research

Authors :

Barkai, Daniel

;

Dvash, Levana

;

Friedman, Shmuel (Natural resources)

;

Landau, Serge Yan

.

Volume :

Co-Authors: 

Landau, S., Department of Natural Resources and Agronomy, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Molle, G., Istituto Zootecnico e Caseario Per la Sardegna, 07040 Olmedo (SS), Italy
Fois, N., Istituto Zootecnico e Caseario Per la Sardegna, 07040 Olmedo (SS), Italy
Friedman, S., Department of Natural Resources and Agronomy, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Barkai, D., Department of Natural Resources, Gilat Research Center, Mobile Post Negev 2, 85280, Israel
Decandia, M., Istituto Zootecnico e Caseario Per la Sardegna, 07040 Olmedo (SS), Italy
Cabiddu, A., Istituto Zootecnico e Caseario Per la Sardegna, 07040 Olmedo (SS), Italy
Dvash, L., Department of Natural Resources and Agronomy, Institute of Field and Garden Crops, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Sitzia, M., Istituto Zootecnico e Caseario Per la Sardegna, 07040 Olmedo (SS), Italy

From page: 

239

To page: 

249

(

Total pages: 

11

)

Link :

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) as a novel pasture species for dairy sheep in the Mediterranean conditions of Sardinia and Israel

Abstract: 

The nutritional value of sown safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) annual pastures for Mediterranean dairy sheep was investigated in the Northern Negev Desert of Israel (250 mm of rainfall) with Awassi hoggets and in Sardinia (Italy, 590 mm of rainfall) with Sarda milking ewes. Safflower (termed "Saf") was compared with barley ("Bar") in Israel, and with chicory (Cichorium intybus L., termed "Chi") and burr medic (Medicago polymorpha L., termed "Bm") in Sardinia. In Israel, hoggets grazed more DM (1.8 kg d-1 versus 1.5 kg d-1, P < 0.05), and gained more weight (103 g d-1 versus 44 g d-1, P < 0.05) when grazing safflower than barley. In Italy, the nutritional quality of safflower pasture declined earlier than that of the other pastures. Ewes in the safflower, chicory and burr medic paddocks produced similar milk yields (1.21 ± 0.04 l d-1). Milk fat was lower for Saf than for Bm (5.92 and 6.92%, respectively, P < 0.05). Ewes in the Saf group also produced milk poorer in protein than their counterparts in the Bm group (5.15 and 5.64%, respectively, P < 0.05), possibly because of the higher content of total polyphenols and tannins of safflower. The ewes grazing Chi gained more weight than the counterparts grazing Saf or Bm (P < 0.05). Our data suggest that, owing to good resistance to drought, safflower has the potential of lengthening the duration of lush green pasture under arid (Israel) but not milder semi-arid (Sardinia) Mediterranean conditions. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.