Context: To meet the forage needs of a growing livestock population amid increasing environmental crises, there is an urgent need to optimize forage production through diversified management practices that balance pro-ductivity gains and resource conservation.
Objective: Therefore developing a sustainable and diversified pasture systems with suitable management prac tices and cutting months that can contribute to higher forage production and quality.
Methods: A two y = (a <^> 2)/a field experiment was conducted to evaluate the impacts of grass-legume mixtures including alfalfa+tall fescue (A+T), alfalfa+smooth brome (A+B), and alfalfa+smooth brome+tall fescue (A+B+T), cut-ting months (May, June, July, and August), and management practices (grazing and mowing) on forage yield, quality and resourde utilization efficiency of arid grassland
Results: Findings revealed that A+B+T mixture showed highest forage yield (4773-5050 kg ha & sup1;), hay yield. (1568-1674 kg hai), irrigation water-use-efficiency (30.8-42.1 kg mm), and hitrogen fertilizer use efficiency (31.8-33.7), when managed by grazing in May during year 2020 and 2021, respectively. The water-soluble carbohydrates ranged between 5.8% and 13.89%, crude protein 12.0-16.29%, ether extract 3.6-7.196, which decreased steadily between May and August. Moreover, the fiber fractions (neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber) were higher in lateral cutting months (June and July) than in early cutting months (May and June) under grazing as compared to mowing. In tradeoff, A+B+T under grazing had a balanced yield-quality trade-off as compared with A+B and A+T, especially when early-season harvests were involved. The principal. component analysis showed that A+B+T had the most closely clustered yield, quality, and efficiency traits in both management Systems, indicating greater stability and less sensitivity to cutting timing. PLS-PM indicated. that grazing promoted integrated yield-quality while mowing intensified maturity-driven trade-off.
Conclusion: The research showed that three-species mixtures (A+B+T) together with strategic management of carly-season rotational grazing consistently optimized forage yield and nutritive quality. Grazing promoted a more balanced yield-quality tradeoff and greater stability across cutting months. So, A+B+T is the best choice to optimize various forage performance dimensions in resource-limited arid grasslands.
Implications: The mixture of A+B+T under early-season rotational grazing improves resource use efficiency, forage yield and quality, providing a scalable and practical solution for arid region livestock producers.