Fodder cereal 6 letters crossword clue first g. Fodder cereals: description. See what “feed grains” are in other dictionaries

Livestock farming is one of the most important branches of agriculture. The main task remains to provide feed to the gigantic (on a global scale) livestock population of domestic animals. Fodder grains play an important role in solving this difficult problem. The diversity, nutritional value, and unpretentiousness of plants help to successfully cope with this issue.

Cereals

The cereal family has almost seven hundred and sixty genera and more than eleven and a half thousand species. They have different uses:

Grains can also act as weeds. They infest crops, gardens, and choke out other cultivated plants. A prominent representative is wheatgrass. Although this particular grass is often mowed for hay and is widely used in horse breeding.

Actually, cereals are grasses from the cereal family that are used as feed for farm animals. This could be hay, green feed, pasture, silage or grain.

They are distributed throughout the globe, growing on absolutely all continents, including Antarctica. This is a native called Antarctic pike, or Antarctic meadow grass, and an introduced one - annual bluegrass. In Russia, about 30% of the sown area is occupied by cereal crops. Natural and cultivated pastures are widely used.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of cereal plants. They are a source of valuable food for all types of farm animals. It is impossible to create a reliable food supply in the absence or insufficiency of natural hayfields and pastures, without the use of sown forage grasses. Agronomy uses their ability to change the chemical composition of the soil, enriching it and increasing the yield of subsequent crops.

Types of cereals

The family of forage cereals is represented by a large number of plants. They have several classifications:

• by life expectancy:

Annuals;

Perennial;

• by type of tillering:

Rhizomes;

Loose bushes;

Dense bush;

• by grass height:

Horse;

Semi-High;

Grassroots;

• by type of cultivation:

Cultural;

Wild growing.

Description of cereals:

Reproduction occurs vegetatively, by seeds or using rhizomes.

Perennial

The perennial forage grass grows on natural pastures and hayfields and is used in grass mixtures. Representatives: hedgehog, ryegrass, timothy, bromegrass, awnless, foxtail and others. It can grow successfully and produce crops for several seasons. According to the number of years it is:

• short longevity - 2-3 years;
• average longevity - 4-5 years;
• long-term - above 5 years.

All perennial forage grasses are cross-pollinating. Pollination is wind-driven and occurs in the morning. Seed shedding is typical for cereal grasses.

Annuals

Annual forage cereals live for one year. Representatives of this group of plants include mogar, corn, Sudan grass, annual ryegrass, pearl millet, sorghum, oats and others.

They are often sown as part of grass mixtures, for example, sorghum for silage. produces an excellent harvest of hay with a high protein content. Mogar has proven itself well in the green conveyor structure. They begin to harvest it during the period when the panicles are thrown out, and it is eaten by all species and birds.

Wild growing

Fodder grains can also be wild. These plants are widespread in steppe and forest-steppe zones. They are one of the main types of food not only for farm animals, but also for wild ungulates. reliably holds the soil, preserving the endless expanses of steppes in their original form.

FOUND GRAINS

herbs from this family cereals used as livestock feed in the form of hay, pasture feed, green fertilizer, silage or grain. The main herbs used in culture: 1) perennial: timothy, hedgehog grass, French ryegrass, meadow fescue, English ryegrass, red fescue, foxtail, awnless brome, canarygrass, meadow grass, white bentgrass, creeping wheatgrass, American wheatgrass, beckmania , tall fescue, wheatgrass, fescue, are used primarily. as mowing and pasture; wild except wheatgrass American, form natural meadows and pastures; 2) annuals: corn, mogar, oats (in mash), winter rye, millet, sorghum, sudanese, barley.

Agricultural dictionary-reference book. - Moscow - Leningrad: State publishing house of collective farm and state farm literature "Selkhozgiz". Editor-in-Chief: A. I. Gaister. 1934 .

See what "FOOD GRAINS" are in other dictionaries:

Bluegrass (Gramineae, Poaceae), a family of narrow-leaved monocots. A very large and complex taxonomic group, in which from two to 12 (now usually 5 or 6 are recognized) subfamilies were distinguished, uniting approximately 700 genera and 10,000... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

Poaceae, order (Poales) of monocotyledonous plants and units, family of this order (Poaceae, or Gramineae). An isolated and highly specialized group, usually related to the family. Flagellarians (Flagellariaceae) of the order Restiaceae. One, two and... Biological encyclopedic dictionary

- (poagrass), a family of monocotyledonous plants. Herbs, less often tree-like forms (bamboos). Small flowers are collected in simple inflorescences - spikelets, forming complex inflorescences - spikelets, panicles and others. About 10,000 species (about 650 genera). Cereals are... ... Modern encyclopedia

This is the name given to plants grown in fields to feed livestock; such a crop is called grass seeding. K. grasses are sown, however, not only in fields, but also in meadows and pastures, but we mean mainly field grass sowing. Such a culture... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

- (Poaceae, or Gramineae) family of monocots. Annual, biennial or perennial herbs, less often shrub-like or tree-like forms. The stem of Z., called the straw, is mostly cylindrical, sometimes laterally compressed,... ...

Ov; pl. (unit cereal, a; m.). Plants with a stem in the form of a hollow cranked straw and with small flowers in ears and panicles. Poa, timothy, legumes. Cereal family. Bread s. Feed z. ◁ Cereal, oh, oh. Three plants. Third steppes... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

The most common family of plants on earth's land. From the village X. rast. grain crops include: wheat, spelt, rye, barley, oats, millet, corn, rice, sorghum; perennial forage grasses: timothy, foxtail, ryegrass, fescue, hedgehog, brome... Agricultural dictionary-reference book

Herbaceous plants used for livestock feed in the form of hay, green fodder, silage, haylage, grass meal, and sometimes grain. Crop plants are cultivated in field and fodder crop rotations, as well as outside crop rotation; many K. t. grow on... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (poagrass), family of monocots. Herbs, less often tree-like forms (bamboos). Small flowers are collected in simple inflorescences - spikelets, forming complex inflorescences - spikes, plumes, panicles, etc. Approx. 10,000 species (approx. 650 genera). Naib. household meaning… … Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

cereals- ov; pl. (unit cereal, a; m.) see also. cereal Plants with a stem in the form of a hollow cranked straw and with small flowers in ears and panicles Poa, timothy, legumes. Cereal family. Cereals. Feed grains… Dictionary of many expressions

And lots of pasture grasses.

Structure.

The morphology of the cereals is so unique that a number of special botanical terms are used to describe them.

Stem and leaves.

The stem of a cereal, called a culm, is usually hollow throughout, except for swollen nodes separated at regular intervals, although there are exceptions, such as sugar cane and some species of the bamboo subfamily. The areas of the stem between adjacent nodes are called internodes. As a rule, cereals are herbs, i.e. their tissues are soft, non-lignified, but tree-like forms are also known, particularly among bamboo. The leaves are narrow, with parallel veins, usually sessile, without a petiole, extending one at a time from each node alternately in different directions, located on the stem in two opposite rows.

A typical leaf has three main parts: a base, or sheath, enclosing the stem; a blade bent from the stem; a small filmy or hairy outgrowth - a tongue (ligula), separating the vagina from the plate. The leaves of some cereals have ears - paired, usually lobed, sometimes lanceolate or crescent-shaped lateral outgrowths at the junction of the blade and the sheath.

Roots.

The root system of cereals is fibrous, i.e. without a main central axis, formed by numerous thin roots extending in a bunch from the lower part of the stem. By origin, they are adventitious, like supporting roots, which begin in some cereals even above the ground. The anchoring of a plant in the soil is often facilitated by tillering - the formation of many basal shoots that make up a loose or dense, hummock-like turf. Usually the roots account for the bulk of the cereal, sometimes up to 90%. Such a root system, which effectively absorbs and stores water, helps to survive in conditions of regular grazing by herbivores, periodic droughts and steppe fires.

Flowers.

The flowers are small, inconspicuous, without a clearly defined perianth. Petals and sepals are represented by one or more miniature scales, which are called floral films, or lodicules, and are located under the stamens. The flower is usually bisexual, i.e. contains both stamens and pistil. The pistil consists of an ovary with two (less often three) columns bearing long feathery stigmas. There are usually three stamens - with long threads hanging from the flower and oblong anthers.

These parts are surrounded by scale-like bracts, i.e. small, highly modified leaves. Usually among them there are the upper, narrower, flowering scales and the lower flowering scales, which are larger and sometimes wrap around the upper one. The reproductive parts, lodicules and these scales form a compact structure called a flower in cereals. The flowers are located in two opposite rows on the thin axis of the spikelet, at the base of which there are two modified covering leaves of the inflorescence - spikelet scales. They, like the lower flower scales, are pointed at the top or elongated into an awn, sometimes very long. Flowers on a spikelet axis with spikelet scales form a compact inflorescence - a spikelet. Deviations from this general scheme are possible: in some species the spikelets are single-flowered, only one of the glumes remains or they are completely absent, etc.

The spikelets, in turn, are attached to the larger axis of the complex inflorescence. If this axis is simple, the inflorescence is called a raceme (short stalked spikelets) or a spike (sessile spikelets). However, in most cereals the main axis of the inflorescence is branched and the spikelets are located on its lateral branches. Such a complex brush is called a panicle.

Fetus.

The ovary of cereals is unilocular, i.e. it contains a single cavity with an ovule. After pollination and fertilization of the egg in the ovule, the latter matures into a seed with an embryo containing nutrients, the endosperm and the seed coat, which fuses with the wall of the ovary (pericarp); This is how the characteristic fruit of a cereal is formed, called a caryopsis or in everyday life just grain, for example wheat, corn, etc. It differs from fruits of other types in that it has a very thin pericarp, practically inseparable from a single seed.

Grass-like plants: sedge and rush.

Wet habitats are characterized by two families of plants - sedges (Cyperaceae) and rushes (Juncaceae), the species of which are often confused with cereals due to their external similarity.

However, sedges differ from grasses in several clearly defined characters. The stem of cereals is knotty, usually hollow at the internodes and round in cross-section. In sedges it is nodeless, usually non-hollow and triangular in cross-section. Leaf sheaths in cereals, as a rule, are not fused at the edges and are easily separated from the stem; in sedges they are closed, enveloping it very firmly. The leaf arrangement of grasses is two-row, while that of sedges is three-row. The flowers of sedges, like cereals, are devoid of a perianth and are collected in spikelets, however, each flower is protected not by two, as in cereals, but by one bract, and the spikelets often form an umbrella-shaped inflorescence, i.e. are found at the ends of stalks emerging from a single point at the top of the stem. Finally, the fruit of sedges is a nut or achene: its pericarp is not fused with a single seed.

Ruminaceae have stems without nodes, non-hollow, and round in cross-section. Leaves usually extend only from their base. The vagina is not closed, but there is no tongue, and the leaf blade is cylindrical. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, but with six identical scale-like perianth elements, arranged three in two circles. The inflorescences are basically cymose, i.e. The flower at the top of the central axis opens first, and then the rest - on the branches extending below it, but outwardly they can look like panicles, brushes, etc. The fruit is not a caryopsis or an achene, but a three-locular or single-locular capsule with small seeds, which open and scatter them when ripe.

In addition to sedges, the sedge family includes reeds (genus Scirpus). This word is often incorrectly used to describe species of cattails from a completely different family (Typhaceae) that grow in damp places. Of the economically important, at least in ancient times, sedges, papyrus deserves mention ( Cyperus papyrus).

Role and use of cereals.

Since ancient times, cereals have formed the basis of nutrition for people and livestock. In the United States, approximately $18 billion worth of corn alone is produced annually. A significant portion of agricultural land in this country is occupied by pastures with forage cereals or grass mixtures (mixed crops of cereals and legumes), which provide more than a third of the feed needed by livestock. About the importance of corn and other food grains, such as oats, millet, wheat, rice, rye, sorghum, cm. related articles.

Bamboo is widely used in construction. Its woody stems reach a height of more than 30 m with a diameter at the base of 20–25 cm. They are not only used to build houses, bridges and fences, but also make mats, vessels, and decorative items. In the old days they were also needed for making spears and arrows.

Erosion control.

Erosion and decline in soil fertility have become global problems. Cereals help solve it. For example, in the USA they are used, along with other coastal grasses, to stabilize sand dunes. The cereals sown on them usually have long rhizomes (underground stems) and hard, resilient leaves that can withstand the blows of wind-blown sand.

Adapted to wet habitats, cereals are important not only to combat erosion, but also as a reserve of green fodder during drought. Swampy areas, usually overgrown with sedges and hard reeds that are poorly eaten by livestock, can be sown, for example, with reed grass, meadow foxtail and other species that produce excellent hay, silage, or even form a cultivated pasture in place of the swamp.

Weeds.

Plant species that are undesirable on agricultural land are called weeds. Among them are cereals that interfere with the growth of main crops, complicate their harvesting, reduce the quality of feed, and sometimes are dangerous for the livestock that eat it. For example, grasses of the crabgrass genus often infest lawns, especially blood crabgrass ( Digitaria sanguinalis). Many weeds, such as pigweed, reproduce vegetatively - by long rhizomes, so it is difficult to control them. If a small piece of their rhizome remains in the soil after weeding, above-ground shoots may appear from it. Vast areas of the western United States are infested with annual grasses, particularly Danthonia spica, bromegrass, and wild barley. Because most of their growth occurs during the wet season, they often compete heavily for water with beneficial annual and perennial grasses such as hairgrass, wheatgrass and feather grass. In addition, the inflorescences of many of these weedy annuals are awned, and the sharp ends of the awns, if ingested by pets, can damage the mucous membrane and even lead to the formation of serious ulcers in it.

Lawn grasses.

Grains sown on lawns can be divided into two categories that differ in climate requirements - northern and southern. In the northern part of the United States, the main turf perennials include bluegrass, red and crowded fescue, and bentgrass. They are grown in single-species crops, as well as together with such fast-growing annual or short-lived perennial grasses as perennial ryegrass, timothy, common bluegrass and meadow fescue. Meadow grass grows best in sunny or lightly shaded areas, while red and crowded fescue prefer shade. Low mowing is contraindicated for these species.

The most popular on lawns is probably meadow bluegrass. Fescue takes second place in this regard. Red fescue has erect stems, while crowded fescue forms dense tufts. White bentgrass requires low mowing, otherwise it becomes spreading and forms loose turf.

Cereals of the genus Zoysia, in particular Zoysia japonica, have long been introduced into the United States from the Far East. These perennials form a dense turf that is resistant to weeds, diseases and insect pests. They grow well in summer, but after the first frost they turn brown.

In the southern United States, lawns are sown with heat-loving grasses. The most common species among them is bermudagrass, followed in popularity by axonopus constrictus, Augustine grass and zoysia species. They are usually created by single-species grass stands. Axonopus compresses forms a thick, tough turf and is best adapted to heavy, wet soils. Compared to other southern cereals, Eremochloa serpentine requires less intensive mowing, moistening and fertilizing. Augustine grass is the most shade-tolerant grass in the deep southern United States, growing best in moist, fertile soils.

Ornamental cereals.

Although there are few decorative species among cereals, some of them are still used to decorate parks and extensive lawns. These are primarily such tall forms as pampas grass, sagittal hynerium and Chinese fantail. Smaller grasses that are used to create the bottom tier of flowerbeds or green borders include pennisetum rocky, pinnately bristlecone and shakers. Some of the decorative cereals are used dry in winter bouquets. Yellow panicles of shakers, calamus hairy and dark bentgrass look good in vases.

Feed grains.

Livestock eat grains in the form of hay, silage or green fodder on cultivated and natural pastures. The main crops used for hay in the northern wet regions of the United States are timothy, cocksfoot, and bromegrass. In other regions, depending on the conditions, Aleppo sorghum, sudanese and reed sorghum are grown. In the Great Plains region, hayfields are formed by native grasses such as bearded grass, usually mixed with switchgrass and Buteloua species.

Permanent cultivated pastures are seeded with turf grasses, such as bearded grass in the northern United States and Axonopus compressus in the south. On annual or temporary pastures, oats, wheat, rye and sudanese are widely used.

Silage is obtained from the green mass of cereal-legume grass mixtures, as well as corn and sorghum, which are crushed and stored without access to air in silos or pits (trenches). Silage is used to feed livestock on farms in winter or other periods when grazing is not possible.

In the western United States, livestock farming is based on the use of natural pastures. Most of the cereals growing on them are drought-resistant and are able to wither on the vine, providing livestock with feed even during a period of temporary cessation of their growth. To improve the productivity of natural lands, overseeding with local grasses of such species as crested wheatgrass, middle wheatgrass, Russian wheatgrass, graceful grass (gram grass) and short-descending grass, rush grass and crooked bent grass is used.

Timofeevka

Timothy grass (Phleum - Phleum) is a perennial grass. Of the 11 species of timothy found in Russia, the best is meadow timothy. This is the most common forage plant of the grass family. Meadow timothy is the first cereal grass that began to be sown in Russia in the first half of the 15th century.
In field grass sowing, timothy is usually cultivated in a mixture with clover; at the same time, it provides highly nutritious hay and good pasture. It is also sown in its pure form.

Timothy grass is cultivated almost throughout Russia, but it is most widespread in the non-chernozem zone.
Timothy roots are thin, fibrous, and are usually located in the upper layers of the soil.

The stem is cylindrical, erect, hollow, reaching a height of 80-100 cm. Meadow timothy bushes well - one plant produces from 6 to 280 stems. The inflorescence is a false spike (su tan), usually cylindrical in shape, from 5 to 20 cm long (Fig. 90).
Timothy seeds are small, round-ovoid, light gray, yellow-brown, dark-brown, shiny. The absolute weight of the seeds is from 0.26 to 0.75 g.
Meadow timothy, sown in various regions of Russia, has a large number of varieties: Marusinskaya 297, Yaroslavskaya 11, Leningradskaya 204, Vologodskaya, Pskovskaya local, Moskovskaya 1480, etc.

Zhitnyak

Wheatgrass is a valuable perennial fodder cereal that is widely used in zero-fly crop rotations. Belongs to the genus of wheatgrass (Agropyrum) and the subgenus of wheatgrass (Euagropyrum).
Wheatgrass is often sown in a mixture with alfalfa, which produces highly nutritious hay. Wheatgrass is distinguished by its high drought resistance and winter hardiness, and its culture is important in the eastern, southern and southeastern regions of Russia.
It has a powerful root system and will give the soil a lumpy structure in a short time.
The stalk of wheatgrass is usually erect and thin. The inflorescence is a spike (Fig. 91). The fruit is filmy, 4-9 mm long, grayish-yellow or yellow-green in color. Absolute weight from 0.8 to 2.8 g.
Four types of wheatgrass have been introduced into crops: comb-shaped, comb-shaped, Siberian and desert.
Varieties: Brodsky wide-eared and narrow-eared 60, Krasnokutsky wide-eared 4, narrow-eared 305, etc.

Bonfire

On the territory of Russia, 44 species of brome grow, of which 23 species are annual plants and 21 species are perennial plants.
Of the perennial species, the awnless brome is the most important.
Bromeless brome (Bromus inermis) is widespread in natural pastures and occupies large areas in field crop rotations, where it is usually sown in a mixture with other forage grasses. In cultivation, it is widely distributed in the steppe and forest-steppe regions of Russia.

The stem is usually erect, less often semi-creeping, with a height of 30 to 160 cm (Fig. 92). The inflorescence is a panicle of various shapes. The fruit is filmy, up to 13 mm long, brown, gray-green or green. The absolute weight of the seeds is 3.0-4.6 g.

Meadow foxtail

Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) is a perennial grass. For food it is as valuable as timothy grass, and even surpasses it in protein content. A very early ripening and winter-hardy plant, due to which it is the main component in grass mixtures in the Far North. It is used in cultivation, in grass mixtures in wet meadows and pastures in other regions.
The stems are straight, from 50 to 120 cm high. The inflorescence is a false spike (sultan). The seeds are filmy, 6-7 mm long, light gray in color, very light. Absolute weight 0.8 g.

Fescue

Fescue is a widespread perennial grass. 20 species of fescue are found in Russia.
The most widespread and important is meadow fescue (Festyca pratensis). Meadow fescue is a loose-bush grass. In terms of feeding properties it is close to timothy grass.

The stems are erect, from 30 to 120 cm high, sometimes reaching 170 cm. The inflorescence is a panicle (Fig. 93). The seeds are a false fruit, membranous, light gray or greenish gray in color, 4.5-8.5 mm long. Absolute weight from 1.6 to 1.9 and even up to 3.5 g.

Cocksfoot

Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata) is a perennial grass. It is used mainly as a meadow plant, as well as in field crop rotations, where it is usually sown in a mixture with clover and alfalfa.
The stems are erect, from 40 to 200 cm high. The inflorescence is a panicle. The seeds are filmy, oblong, yellowish-green in color, 5 to 7 mm long. The absolute weight of the seeds ranges from 0.8 to 1.2 g.

Bluegrass

Of the numerous species of bluegrass growing in Russia, the most widespread is the meadow bluegrass (Poa pratensis). A perennial grass, highly valued as a pasture and meadow plant. It is often sown in a mixture with other herbs. Distributed throughout Russia.
The stems are straight, from 20 to 100 cm high. The inflorescence is a panicle. The caryopsis is membranous, spindle-shaped, brownish in color, up to 2.75 mm long.
In addition to the above-described forage grasses from the cereal family, others are also cultivated.