Variation in the nutritional characteristics of wheat straw

A number of agronomic, morphological and nutritive measurements were determined for three varieties of wheat from two types of soil in Northern China. The results were as follows: (1) higher neutral detergent fibre and lignin contents but lower crude protein and neutral detergent soluble contents were noted for the whole wheat straw plant during maturation; (2) the feed nutritive value of leaf blades (LB) is highest, then leaf sheath, and that of the stem (S) the lowest; however, as the stem constitutes more than 50% of the whole plant, the nutritive value of wheat straw is dependent on the nutritive quality of the stem; (3) from top to bottom of the plant, the nutritive value of wheat straw is from high to low; (4) the height of the plant and proportion of stem to whole plant are correlated negatively with the dry matter disappearance (DMD), but the thousand grain weight and the ratio leaf blade to leaf stem are correlated positively with DMD. It is possible, therefore, to predict the nutritive value of wheat straw on the basis of its agronomic, morphological and chemical features and their relationship with the DMD value.