Impact of autumn (fall) dormancy rating on growth and development of seedling lucerne
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33584/jnzg.2016.78.501Abstract
To quantify the influence of autumn (fall) dormancy (FD) on DM production and phenological development during the seedling phase, three lucerne genotypes with contrasting ratings were grown at Lincoln University, New Zealand. A dormant (FD2), a semi-dormant (FD5), and a winter-active (FD10) genotype were inoculated and sown at a rate of 290 plants/m2 on 8 October 2014. By the end of the seedling phase (15 January 2015) the FD10 genotype had produced 20% higher shoot yield and 17% higher root yield than the other two genotypes. The percentage of total biomass partitioned to roots (Proot) was 50% for all genotypes. Total plant biomass (root + shoot yields) was 6.55 t DM/ha for FD10 compared with 5.57 t DM/ha for FD 2 and FD5. Plant height at the open-flower stage was 39.5 cm for FD10 compared with 34.5 cm for FD5 and 33.5 cm for FD2. Maximum leaf area index was similar amongst genotypes at 2.5. However, individual leaf area was 142, 119 and 111 cm2/stem for FD10, FD5 and FD2, respectively. The phyllochron was 52oCd per primary leaf (base temperature of 1oC) and consistent amongst genotypes. The number of primary leaves and branches were also conservative at 17 and 14/shoot, respectively. Therefore, differences in shoot yield among these lucerne genotypes during the seedling stage were mainly due to differences in plant height and individual leaf area expansion per plant. This led to greater light interception and therefore higher total biomass accumulation for FD10 than for the other two genotypes. Keywords: alfalfa, autumn, Medicago sativa L., phyllochronDownloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Rights granted to the New Zealand Grassland Association through this agreement are non-exclusive. You are free to publish the work(s) elsewhere and no ownership is assumed by the NZGA when storing or curating an electronic version of the work(s). The author(s) will receive no monetary return from the Association for the use of material contained in the manuscript. If I am one of several co-authors, I hereby confirm that I am authorized by my co-authors to grant this Licence as their agent on their behalf. For the avoidance of doubt, this includes the rights to supply the article in electronic and online forms and systems.