Abstract:
Fabaceae species play a key role in ecosystem functioning through their capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen and
mobilize phosphorus, produce food rich in nitrogenous compounds, improve forage quality and performance in animal
production, besides, they have valuable medicinal properties and can be used for multiple purposes in biorefineries. The
local ecotype of fine-leaf vetch, Vicia tenuifolia, maintained in monoculture, served as object of study. The 3-year-old Vicia
tenuifolia started vegetating in the second half of March; the plants had high growth and development rates. In the middle of
May, fine-leaf vetch plants bloomed and the shoots were up to 100 cm long, the fresh mass yield reached 4.18 kg/m2
, with
higher proportion of leaves (58 %) in comparison with alfalfa, Medicago sativa. The results of the study on the biochemical
composition of the dry matter in the harvested fresh mass and hay prepared from Vicia tenuifolia: 23.50 % and 21.94 % raw
protein, 3.65 % and 1.49 % raw fats, 29.08% and 31.78 % raw cellulose, 37.56 % and 36.71 % nitrogen-free extract,
8.10 % and 8.08 % ash. The nutritional and energy value of Vicia tenuifolia forage: 100 kg fresh mass reached 17.93
nutritive units, 3.45 kg digestible protein and 189.51 MJ metabolizable energy, but 100 kg of hay had 75.9 nutritive units,
14.32 kg digestible protein and 827 MJ metabolizable energy, respectively. The gas-producing potential of fermentable
organic matter of Vicia tenuifolia reached 503 L/kg or 284 L/kg methane yields in green mass substrate and 422 L/kg or
235 L/kg methane yields in hay substrate, exceeding Medicago sativa substrates.
