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Seeding Rate and Fertility Effects on AC Saltlander Forage Production on Saline Soils
Author(s) -
Gu Chen,
Iwaasa Alan D.,
Wall Ken,
Gatzke Craig,
Zhao Mengli
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2018.06.0395
Subject(s) - seeding , foxtail , agronomy , forage , salinity , soil salinity , saline , biology , zoology , ecology , endocrinology
Core Ideas AC Saltlander green wheatgrass is a new salinity tolerant cool season grass. Proper seeding rate is effective to save costs and suppress foxtail barley. The optimal seeding rate is 5.6 to 11.2 kg ha −1 in severe saline drylands. Large N application in severe saline soil was not beneficial over successive years. Suppressing foxtail barley by N addition in severe saline soil is not recommended.AC Saltlander green wheatgrass ( Elymus hoffmannii Jensen & Asay) (ACS) was developed to tolerate moderate to severe root‐zone salinity. However, effects of seeding rate and nitrogen (N) addition on ACS forage production and suppressing foxtail barley ( Hordeum jubatum L.) (FTB) weed infestation on saline environments are poorly understood. A 3‐yr experiment with four ACS seeding rates (2.8, 5.6, 11.2, and 16.8 kg ha −1 pure live seed) and a 3‐yr experiment with three N levels (0, 50, and 150 kg ha −1 actual N) were conducted on a severe to very severe range of saline dryland. The 5.6 and 11.2 kg ha −1 ACS seeding rates had similar forage yields to the 16.8 kg ha −1 seeding rate and better FTB suppress compared to the lowest seeding rate. Therefore, 5.6 kg ha −1 seeding rate may be suitable under certain conditions. However, high salinity ranges and challenging environments could justify recommending the higher seeding rate. The ACS forage yields and qualities were higher in 50 and 150 kg ha −1 of actual N in 2014, while yields in 2015 were only higher in 150 kg ha −1 compared with the control but was similar to the 50 kg ha −1 . No yield and quality differences were observed in 2016 and no FTB yield and relative yield differences were detected in each year among treatments. Therefore, a single large N fertilizer application in severe salt‐affected drylands was not beneficial over successive years compared to lower N application, and the suppression of FTB in ACS pasture by N addition is not recommended.