Turkish Journal of Field Crops

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PERFORMANCES OF SOME PERENNIAL WARM SEASON GRASSES ALFALFA (Medicago sativa L.) MIXTURES UNDER MEDITERRANEAN CONDITIONS

Selahattin CINAR, Rustu HATIPOGLU, Feyza Dondu GUNDEL, Arif AKTAS3 , Mustafa AVCI

Abstract

This research was conducted to determine forage yield and botanical composition of duo (alfalfa + one grass) and trio ( alfalfa + two grasses) mixtures of some warm season perennial grass species such as dallis grass (Paspalum dilatatum Poir.), Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana L.), Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.) Guineae grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.), blue couch grass (Digitaria didactyla Willd) and finger grass (Digitaria milanjiana (Rendle) Stapf) with alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) as well as their pure sowings under irrigated conditions of Mediterranean during the years of 2011 and 2012. In the study, green herbage yield, dry matter yield, alfalfa proportion in dry matter yields and land equivalent ratio (LER) were determined. The experimental design was completely randomized block design with three replications. According to the results, it was determined that the ratios of warm season grasses in the botanical composition of the mixtures declined with the establishment age while rate of alfalfa in the botanical composition of the mixtures increased. Increasing the rate of alfalfa in the botanical composition of the mixtures also increased hay quality of the mixtures. The mixtures gave higher dry matter yield than pure sowings of the species. The highest green herbage yield (98.14 t ha1 ) was obtained from the mixture of Rhodes grass + alfalfa. The highest dry matter yield (22.46 t ha1 ) was obtained from the mixture of dallis grass + Guinea grass + alfalfa. The highest value of land equivalent ratio (LER) (1.49) was obtained from the mixture of bermuda grass +Rhodes grass + alfalfa. From the results of the study, it was concluded that Guinea grass and finger grass did not show good adaptaion to the Cukurova conditions due to low temperatures during the winter season. Bermuda grass, Rhodes grass, blue couch grass and dallis grass could be used to establish pasture mixtures with alfalfa, having long grazing season and giving high hay yield and quality. Before the establishment of such pasture mixtures, it was needed to research proper mixture ratios and proper management techniques of the mixtures.

Keyword: Warm season perennial grasses, alfalfa, mixture, yield, LER ,

Effects of Different Water Stress Levels on Biomass Yield and Agronomic Traits of Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) Varieties under Semi-Arid Conditio

Erdal GONULAL, Suleyman SOYLU, Mehmet SAHIN

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in the Wielkopolska region at the Gorzyń Research Station, Poland (52.34°N, 15.54°E) in Central Europe. The study was conducted over a 3-year period (2017, 2018, 2019) as a two-factorial design with four replications in the RCBD. The aim of the research was to determine the effect of the cultivar (‘Bolero’, ‘Tytan’) and the inoculation (Nitragina–seeds inoculation, Nitroflora I–seeds inoculation, Nitroflora II–soil inoculation, HiStick® Lupin–seeds inoculation) on plant development, seeds chemical composition and yielding of narrow-leaved lupin. The weather conditions and experimental factors significantly influenced on productivity of narrow-leaved lupin ‘Tytan’. Drought during the growing season reduced seeds and protein yields. After inoculation of HiStck the seeds yield was significantly greater by 12.4% (p < 0.01) and the protein yield after application of Nitroflora I or HiStick by 13.9% (p < 0.01) and 19.2% (p < 0.01), respectively. Correlation coefficients showed strong relations between number of pods and seeds per plant in both cultivars regardless of the inoculation variant, however the strongest relations in both cultivar were proved on HiStick treatment.
Keyword: Biological nitrogen fixation, chemical composition, legumes, protein efficiency, yielding