Performance of Some Selected Forage Plant Species in Sandy Loam Soil at Esunnot Area of Western Kordofan State, Sudan

The study was conducted at Esunnot area of west Kordofan State during 2014 and 2015 seasons. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of six forage species (Vigna trilobata, (philpisara) Vigna unguiculata – L (cowpea) Clitoria ternatea, Sorghum bicolor–L (Abu-sabien), Cenchrus ciliaris-L, (Haskaneet Naeim), Pennisetum americanum (Arose Elrimal) in sandy loam soil under rain- fed condition. The forage species were arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six treatments and four replications. Germination tests were conducted. Tractor and chisel plough were used for land preparation. The forage plant species were sown in the same sowing date and the seeds were broadcasted manually in each plot. Weeding was done after three weeks from sowing date. Field measurements (height, density, fresh weight and dry weight) were done at 50% flowering stage. M- STAT- Statistical package was used for statistical analysis. Duncan multiple range tests were used for means separation. Combined analysis for the two seasons was done. Association of Official Analytical Chemist (A O A C) method was used for proximate chemical analysis. Crud protein, crud fiber, organic matter, dry matter and ash % were estimated. The study revealed that, the highest plant height was Sorghum bicolor (Abu-sabien), 127.9cm.Clitoria ternatea had the most number of branches with 9 branches. Arose Elrimal showed 9.4ton/ha as the highest plant green weight/ton/ha. And again it showed the highest plant dry weight among all species with 3.8ton/ha. The highest Dry matter content was found in Cenchrus ciliaris (haskaneet naeim) with about 98.1%. The highest organic matter was Clitoriaternatea which showed 91.9%. Vigna ungiculata (Cowpea) showed the highest ash with about 13.6%. And it also showed the highest crude protein about 27.6%. Abu-sabien showed the highest crude fiber about 57.8%.