FORAGE YIELD AND BOTANICAL COMPOSITION OF MIXTURES OF SOME PERENNIAL WARM SEASON GRASSES WITH ALFALFA (Medicago sativa L.) UNDER MEDITERRANEAN CONDITIONS

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.) and Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.) with alfalfa as well as their pure sowings under irrigated conditions of Mediterranean during the years of 2009-2011. In the study, green herbage yield, dry matter yield, botanical composition 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. The mixtures gave higher dry matter yield than pure sowings of the species. The highest green herbage yield (68.44 t ha ^-1) was obtained from the mixture of alfalfa + Rhodes grass. The highest dry matter yield (15.40 t ha ^-1) was obtained from the mixture of alfalfa + Bermuda grass + Rhodes grass. The highest alfalfa proportion (50.0%) was obtained from the mixture of alfalfa + Bermuda grass. The highest LER (1.63) was obtained from mixture of alfalfa + dallis grass.