Chenopod Cultivation Increases the Forage Base for Domestic Grazing Animals in Turkmenistan

Abstract

Rapid increase of livestock numbers urgently demands ways of improving and increasing the forage base for domestic livestock in Turkmenistan. Progressive technologies and new innovations are needed to provide necessary increases in forage production and quality. Currently, extensive areas of saline and sodic soils as well as mineralized tailwater from large irrigation projects are underutilized. Halophyte species development offers the potential to increase forage productivity on saline affected lands in Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries. In this study, Salicornia europaea, Suaeda acuminata, Climacoptera turcomanica, Atriplex micrantha and A. ornata showed potential as cultivated forage species on irrigated salt affected soils.