Growth Performance And Feed Quality Of "Sweet-hearted" Chicory In Yangtse River Basin

Chicory, Cichorium intybus, belonging to the Compositae family, is a perennial herbage forage with extensive adaptability, strong disease resistance and good palatability. It was increasingly utilized in the stockbreeding since 1990s. A new band of chicory,"sweet-hearted", was studied on growth performance and feed quality in the Yangtse River Basin in order to develop its production potentials and establish rational planting technology in the study.In the study, different growth traits were explored including number of leaf, leaf size, number of lateral root, root length and root weight at different growth stages: seedling stage, pre-rosette stage, rosette stage, pre-rest stage, pre-bolting stage, and bolting stage.The results showed that most parameters of the leaf and root increased from seedling stage to rosette stage in spring. However, the number of lateral root decreased a little and root length and root weight increased in winter. Leaf and root systems grew better in spring rosette stage than in autumn rosette stage. The stem grew out from pre-bolting stage and its weight ratio increased with the time in the whole plant, and most parameters of the leaf and root decreased except number of the leaf.Three aspects of the feed quality of chicory were also explored in the study. First, the nutritive values of chicory were evaluated on different stages, seedling stage, pre-rosette stage, rosette stages in autumn and spring, pre-bolting stage and bolting stage. Secondly, the influence of cutting times in autumn (once, twice and none) was investigated on chicory yield and nutritive values in rosette stage in spring, pre-bolting stage and bolting stage. Lastly, the nutritive values of"sweet-hearted"chicory, were...