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The assessment of persistence and its application to the evaluation of early perennial ryegrass cultivars
Author(s) -
CAMLIN M. S.,
STEWART R. H.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2494.1976.tb01107.x
Subject(s) - cultivar , persistence (discontinuity) , lolium perenne , perennial plant , agronomy , biology , yield (engineering) , materials science , geotechnical engineering , metallurgy , engineering
Botanical analyses were carried out on the herbage from plots of twelve early cultivars of perennial ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ) cut in their fourth year and the results related to visual persistence assessments carried out on the cultivars at the end of the second and third harvest years. Persistence assessments were found to be highly and positively correlated with the yields of sown cultivars ( r =+0.96***, r =+0.99***) and to be highly and negatively correlated with the yields of unsown herbage species (r =+0.98***, r =−094***). The plots of the less persistent cultivars were invaded by unsown grass species and docks which contributed in varying degrees to total DM yield, reducing the correlation of total yield with persistence. Assessments of botanical composition of swards made at the end of the second year provided reliable predictions of the relative persistence of the cultivars. The results of the investigations indicated that assessment of persistence, as well as yield potential, is fundamentally important in cultivar evaluation.