Identification of pasture mixtures that maximise dry matter yield
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33584/jnzg.2017.79.563Abstract
Abstract A mixture experiment was conducted to identify an optimal pasture seed mixture that maximised dry matter (DM) yield under irrigated, sheep-grazed conditions in mid-Canterbury, New Zealand. Nineteen seed mixtures were created using a simplex design from a pool of four species: perennial ryegrass, plantain, white clover and red clover. Seed mixtures were drilled into plots in March 2015 and the yield from sowing to May 2017 was modelled. The model analysis defined the optimal seed mixture proportions as 0.25 ryegrass, 0.28 plantain and 0.47 red clover of total number of seeds per unit area, or 7.5, 6.3 and 8.2 kg/ha, respectively (22.0 kg total seed). This mixture was predicted to yield 39.81 t DM/ha after 2 years. Ryegrass and plantain interacted more strongly with red clover than white clover, leading to increased yields over monocultures (diversity effects). Additional yield benefits arose from the three-species mixture of ryegrass, plantain and red clover. Keywords: diversity effect, pasture establishment, perennial ryegrass, plantain, red clover, seed mixtures, simplex design, white cloverDownloads
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.