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Tall Fescue Adaptation to Low Nitrogen Fertilization in Relation to Germplasm Type and Endophyte Infection
Author(s) -
Pecetti L.,
Romani M.,
Annicchiarico P.,
Piano E.
Publication year - 2008
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.2008.00302.x
Subject(s) - agronomy , germplasm , biology , human fertilization , endophyte , sowing , festuca arundinacea , fertilizer , poaceae , botany
Efficient crop growth with low nitrogen (N) application is becoming a requirement to face the concern on excessive N emission to the environment and the increasing cost of fertilizers. This study compared six natural populations and three improved varieties of tall fescue ( Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) for dry‐matter yield over 4 years under ordinary N fertilization (450 kg ha −1 in the 4 years) and very low N fertilization (only 40 kg ha −1 prior to sowing). Both endophyte‐infected (EI) and endophyte‐free (EF) forms of each accession were sown. On average, ordinary fertilization implied 30 % higher yield than very low fertilization and the EI germplasm outyielded the corresponding EF germplasm (+4.4 %). Mean yield of improved varieties was higher than that of natural populations under ordinary fertilization (P < 0.05), whereas the two germplasm groups did not differ under very low fertilization. Accession × N fertilization interaction was found among natural populations but not among varieties (P < 0.05). A few natural populations were top‐yielding under very low fertilization and may be exploited, possibly in combination with endophyte infection, to select tall fescue varieties with enhanced performance under limited N application.