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Effect of species and proportion of legume on herbage yield and nitrogen concentration of legume‐grass mixtures
Author(s) -
MALLARINO A. P.,
WEDIN W. F.
Publication year - 1990
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.1365-2494.1990.tb01964.x
Subject(s) - legume , lotus corniculatus , agronomy , red clover , trifolium repens , biology , trefoil , zoology , yield (engineering) , nitrogen , chemistry , materials science , metallurgy , organic chemistry
This study evaluated the relationships between legume proportion and dry matter (DM) yield, N yield, and herbage N concentration for three binary legume‐grass mixtures In Uruguay. Two identical trials were established, one in 1983 (Trial 1) and another in 1984 (Trial 2) and were evaluated for 2 years. Treatments were white clover ( Trifolium repens L.) (WC), red clover ( Trifolium pratense L.) (RC), and birds‐foot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus L.) (BT), each grown with tall fescue ( Festuca arundinacea Schreb. ) (TF) at four legume proportions, plus pure stands of TF. In Trial 1, annual DM yields of RC‐TF were greater than yields of WC‐TF or BT‐TF and in Trial 2 RC‐TF and BT‐TF yielded more than WC‐TF. The N concentration of either the legume or TF components usually was greater for WC‐TF than other mixtures in both trials. Annual DM yields in Trial 1 were optimized by legume proportions of 47 to 59% for WC, 62 to 67% for RC‐TF, and 57 to 100% for BT‐TF; and N yields were optimized by 70% of WC or RC, and by 100% BT. In Trial 2, which had greater soil‐N availability than Trial 1, optimum DM or N yields were achieved at lower WC proportions than in Trial 1. Changes in legume proportion did not affect legume N concentrations, but N concentration of TF in mixture was always positively and linearly related with legume proportion. It is concluded that DM yields for the first 2 years after seeding were greater for RC‐TF and BT‐TF than for WC‐based mixtures. Herbage DM and N yields of WC‐TF were optimized by lower legume proportions than for RC‐TF and BT‐TF. The N concentration of TF increased linearly with increasing proportions of any of the three legumes.