Forage yield and quality of emmer (Triticum dicoccum Schübler) and spelt (Triticum spelta L.) as affected by harvest period and nitrogen fertilization

Emmer (Triticum dicoccum Schu¨ bler) and spelt (Triticum spelta L.) are two ancient cereal crops which have been traditionally grown in the semiarid areas of the Mediterranean basin. The renewed interest in these species has its origin in favorable quality parameters of grain. Unfortunately, there is a lack of information on hulled wheat characteristics when a whole plant is used as forage. Therefore, a field trial was carried out in southern Italy during 2010-2011 to evaluate the effect of N applications (0, 40, and 80 kg ha-1) and harvest period (cut at boots just swollen and cut at early dough) on forage yield and quality of two emmer varieties (‘‘Padre Pio’’ and ‘‘Giovanni Paolo’’) and one of spelt (‘‘Altamura’’) on their biomass yield and nutritional traits as well as carbohydrates fractionation. Data indicated that the harvest stage and genotype affected forage yield and quality significantly, while N fertilization has influenced some qualitative parameters. Old wheat cultivars tested had considerable yield and forage quality, and they seem to be adapted to marginal lands in the absence of N fertilization. Therefore, from our findings we can conclude that the emmer could be recommended for hay production harvested at booting stage given its valuable nutritional characteristics, whereas spelt results to be more adaptable for silage production when harvested at the early dough stage.