Influence of soil and climatic conditions on the chemical composition and nutritional value of Kochia prostrata feed in the arid zone of Western Kazakhstan

The forage kochia, Kochia prostrata is used in agriculture as a high-quality pasture plant, however, it has not shown itself to be a stable pasture-haymaking plant. Therefore, in this study, a new direction was chosen for using forage kochia as fodder, i.e., using it for the production of fruit and fodder products that are more nutritious than its hay. The study aimed to determine the influence of soil and climatic conditions on the alteration in the chemical composition and nutritional value of fruit and fodder products, hay, and straw of the forage kochia. The study was carried out in the desert zone of the Atyrau region, Western Kazakhstan with annual precipitation of 130.2 mm. Experiments in 2016 and 2017 were established on meadow-brown soils, and in 2020 on alluvial-meadow soils. The conducted studies have shown that the content of fodder units and protein in fruit and fodder products is much higher than that of hay (0.88 versus 0.65 fodder units and 21.80 g versus 17.25 g protein), and also much higher than those of its straw, which are 0.39 fodder units and 11.21 g, respectively. Natural forage plants of the desert of Western Kazakhstan are unproductive (2-3 kg ha-1) and nutritionally poor. As an alternative, it is proposed to produce fruit-based fodder of forage kochia, a new type of high-quality, nutritionally balanced feed, 10 or more times (39 kg ha-1) superior in productivity to natural hayfields and pastures.