Competition in perennial ryegrass–white clover mixtures under cutting. 1. Dry‐matter yield, species composition and nitrogen fixation

Abstract

Persistence of white clover (Trifolium repens) in mixtures was studied in a long‐term experiment. Mixtures of two cultivars of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) with contrasting growth habits and three white clover cultivars differing in leaf size were sown in 1991 and evaluated at two cutting frequencies. During 1995 and 1996 mixtures with large‐leaved white clover cv. Alice had the highest dry‐matter (DM) content, clover and N yield, and the highest white clover content, and mixtures with medium‐leaved Retor the lowest, whereas mixtures with small‐leaved Gwenda yielded most grass DM. In 1995 averaged over cutting treatments and mixtures, the mixtures yielded 11·8 t DM ha−1 with a white clover content of 0·6; the apparent N fixation was 393 kg N ha−1. In 1996 these values declined to 8·5 t DM ha−1, 0·48 white clover and 236 kg N ha−1. There was no significant effect of cutting frequency on DM yield or white clover content, whereas the effects of grass cultivar were not consistent.In spring there was a peak in the DM production of the mixtures, coinciding with a peak in production of the grass component. However, in summer and autumn the seasonal pattern of DM production of the mixtures was similar to that of the white clover component. Both cultivars of perennial ryegrass showed the same seasonal response, but the seasonal growth pattern of white clover differed slightly between clover cultivars and cutting treatments. In later years only one cutting frequency was imposed, and no yield measurements were taken. White clover was judged to have performed well during 1997; the clover content in September was very high (0·76), whereas in October 1998 it was 0·45. Mixtures with Alice contained most white clover. Despite fluctuations in white clover content during 1991–98, all clover cultivars had persisted 7 years after sowing, irrespective of companion grass cultivar, at both cutting treatments.