Effects of Mixture Ratio and Row Spacing in Hungarian Vetch (Vicia pannonica Crantz.) and Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) Intercropping Sys

Abstract

This study was conducted at the Middle Kizilirmak basin of Turkey (40°20′N, 33°58′E, elevation 550 m), during the 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 growing seasons, to determine the effects of different mixture ratios (sole Hungarian vetch (HV), annual ryegrass (AR); 80%HV+20%AR, 60%HV+40%AR, 40%HV+60%AR, and 20%HV+80%AR) and row spacings (20, 30, and 40 cm) on the forage yield and quality of the HV and AR intercropping system. The experiment was planned in a randomized complete block design, where a split-plot arrangement of mixture ratios was considered as the main plot with the row spacings considered as subplots. According to the mean of 2 years, the different mixture ratios and row spacings had a statistically significant effect on all of the properties. At the end of the research, among the different mixture ratios and row spacing interactions, the highest green herbage yield (33.4 t ha–1), hay yield (7.5 t ha–1), lowest neutral detergent fiber (52.2%), and crude ash (7.8%) rates were obtained from the 60%HV+40%AR mixture and 30-cm row spacing interaction. The highest crude protein (CP) rate (17%), CP yield (1156 kg ha–1) and ADF (39.5%) ratios were obtained from the 80%HV+20%AR mixture and 30-cm row spacing interaction. The highest RFV value (107) was obtained from the 80%HV+20%AR mixture and 20-cm row spacing interaction. These results show that increasing the HV ratio in the mixture has positive effects on the yield and quality, whereas raising the row spacing has adverse effects on the forage values. Therefore, 80%HV+20%AR or 60%HV+40%AR with a 30cm row spacing interaction can be suggested for forage production in an HV and AR intercropping system