ZAHRA NOORI - Islamic Azad University, Bushehr, Iran. No 159, 7th Boostan St., Pasdaran Ave . 5683700 Bushehr, Iran
GHIZAN SALEH - Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
MAJID FOROUGHI - Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
RAHMATOLLAH BEHMARAM - Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

This study was carried out to evaluate 40 kenaf accessions for forage yield and quality at Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2009. Forage yield and quality traits were measured at the initial flowering stage. The kenaf accessions showed highly significant variation for most of trait studied. Plant dry matter yield ranged from 5286 kg/ha (Evarglade 41) to 16801 kg/ha (1X51). Crude protein content of the leaf ranged from 13.6% (G46) to 22.3% (75-71) and it was higher than stem which is ranged from 2.7 % (FDW-75-8) to 7.5 % (K465/117). Leaf ADF were significantly different among the accessions, where FDW 75-82 gave the highest (24.7%) while C74 gave the lowest (16%). Broad-sense heritability was highest for days to flowering (hB2= 97.6%) and lowest for CP of stem (h2= 11.2 %). In conclusion 1X51, Cuba2032 (with high yield), 75-71 and Everglade 41 (with high CP content), were the most superior among the 40 kenaf accessions evaluated and were found highly potential for forage. These accessions can therefore be utilized in further breeding programs to produce new kenaf varieties with high feed value for ruminant consumption

Kenaf; Forage; Crude protein (CP); Acid detergent fiber (ADF); Ruminant feed