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A Study on the Establishment of Tropical Grasses and Legumes
Author(s) -
Sangakkara U. R.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of agronomy and crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.095
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-037X
pISSN - 0931-2250
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-037x.1988.tb00324.x
Subject(s) - panicum , legume , biology , brachiaria , desmodium , agronomy , perennial plant , dominance (genetics) , tropics , forage , ecology , biochemistry , gene
The importance of incorporating compatible legumes into tropical grasslands has been highlighted by many researchers. Thus an experiment was conducted to identify optimum times of establishing tropical grasses and legumes in mixtures. The species selected were Guinea grass ( Panicum maximum ); Brachiaria ( Brachiaria ruziziensis ) and Green leaf ( Desmodium intortum ). The grasses were established along with and 4 and 8 weeks after the legume. The growth of the species was monitored for 16 weeks. The results identified the importance of prior establishment of the legume to overcome the competitive dominance of the herbage grasses. The growth form of the grasses also had an effect on the success of legume establishment. The legume had no adverse effect on the growth of the grasses.