Title: Effects of seeding rates and of mixtures of lolium multiflorum lam. and lolium perenne l. on productivity
Abstract: The effects of seeding rate on productivity of Lolium multiflorum Lam. (Italian ryegrass) were examined in an experiment over two years. There were eight seeding rates ranging from 11 to 88 kg ha1. The 11 kg seeding rate gave significantly lower yields in both years than all other seeding rates. There were no significant differences in yield between any of the other seeding rates. At the end of the second year, tiller numbers of Italian ryegrass were similar in all seeding rates. As the seeding rate increased the numbers of unsown species decreased. In a second experiment, Lolium multiflorum Lam and Lolium perenne L. (perennial rye grass) were grown in monocultures and in various binary combinations over a three-year period. The Italian ryegrass consistently outyielded the perennial ryegrass and the yields of various combinations were intermediate between the perennial and Italian monocultures. Introduction Each year about 3% of Irish farmland is sown to grass, representing some 142,000 ha (Keane, 1980). While the main species sown is Lolium perenne L., Lolium multi florum Lam constitutes some 10% pf the total. Some of this is sown in monoculture as specialist silage crops and the balance is mixed with perennial ryegrasses and sown as mixtures. The effects of seeding rate on the yields of arable crops have been studied in detail (Holliday, 1960, 1963) but very little has been done on its effects on the productivity of new Italian swards. Maloney (1962) found that seeding rates ranging from 6.7 to 45 kg ha-i did not affect the production from a perennial ryegrass/white clover sward. Keane (1980) reported-on a trial where Italian, perennial and white clover were sown at 10, 19, 28 and 37 kg ha-1. Yield differences between the 19,28 and 37 kg ha1 seeding rates were not significant. Consequentiy it is now generally felt that the current recommendation of 29 kg ha-1 for perennial ryegrass is too high (Ribeiro. 1974; Keane, 1980; Culleton et al, 1986). Because Italian ryegrass has a larger seed than perennial ryegrass, Beddows (1973) recommended a seeding rate of 35 kg ha-1
Publication Year: 1987
Publication Date: 1987-04-24
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 6
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