Seed production of new grass cultivar

Some aspects of the agronomy and seed production of four recently released Grasslands cultivars are described. Matua prairie grass sown at 10 to 15 kg/ha in 50-60 cm rows has produced over 3000 kg/ha of seed from two harvests in one season. The problem of head smut can be overcome by treating the seed with 1% by weight of benomyl, but techniques for treating large seed lots still have to be developed. Roa tall fescue sown at 2.2 kg/ha in 60 cm rows has produced over 1000 kg/ha of seed in the second season from sowing. Early defoliations should be very lenient or avoided altogether because the species is very slow to establish. Maru phalaris has produced over 800 kg/ha of seed in the absence of defoliation between sowing and harvesting. Although the cultivar may be less prone to seed shattering than older types, it is still very important to harvest at the correct time. Raki paspalum is a valuable grass for the northern areas of New Zealand, but ergot seriously restricts seed production, particularly in wetter years. The disease can probably be controlled within the crop by cultural and fungicidal methods, but it is very difficult to prevent reinfection from outside areas. The best prospect is to avoid the disease by growing Raki in suitable areas which have a reliable dry period each summer. Keywords: Seed production, Bromus willdenowii, Phalaris aquatica, Festuca arundinacea, Paspulum dilatatum, new grass cultivars.