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A comparison of methods of establishing swedes following an early silage cut
Author(s) -
EASSON D. L.
Publication year - 1984
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.1365-2494.1984.tb01688.x
Subject(s) - silage , weed , drilling , sowing , agronomy , atrazine , mathematics , competition (biology) , drill , forage , biology , materials science , ecology , pesticide , metallurgy
Experiments were carried out over three seasons in which swedes were sown by precision drilling after ploughing and conventional cultivation or by direct drilling with two types of drill at two row widths with and without shallow cultivation. The swedes were sown in June or early July following a first silage cut and sward desiccation with paraquat. Precision drilling with inter‐row cultivation and singling gave a uniform weed‐free stand and had the highest mean yield of over 8 t DM ha −1 Where hoeing was omitted yields were reduced due to weed competition. Yields following direct drilling were lower than with precision drilling due to uneven plant establishment, weed competition and grass regrowth. A shallow rotavation prior to direct drilling improved uniformity and yields and reduced grass regrowth. Direct drilling produced high numbers of small roots. The highest root yields were associated with sowing in early June and harvesting in December or January. Overall yields from the silage cut plus direct drilled swedes and silage cut plus precision drilled swedes were 12 and 13 t DM ha −1 respectively compared with about 14 t DM ha −1 expected from a grass sward.