Abstract
A research was carried out in Sardinia (Italy) to identify the best combination and management in binary mixtures of Lolium rigidum Gaudin Nurra (L) and Medicago polymorpha L. Anglona (P) new released varieties of both species. Two pure stands (L100P0 and L0P100) and three mixtures (L75P25, L50P50 and L25P75) were compared under two cutting regimes; a commercial mixture was also included in the experiment as test. Forage yield and quality, biological efficiency, interspecific interference and competitive ability of both species were assessed. Total dry matter yield ranged from 2.2 to 5.6 t ha-1 (two-cuttings) and from 2.3 to 4.9 t ha-1 in commercial mixture and L25P75 (three-cuttings). The association grass-legume showed positive effects on the control of unsown species. Crude protein yield, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and acid detergent lignin concentration significantly varied between mixtures. The highest protein yield was obtained in the L25P75 mixture, reaching 1308 kg ha-1 in two-cuttings, as well as the best combination for quality and yield that maximised the synergic interaction effects between species. Key words: Annual self-reseeding species, forage quality, grass legume competition, mixtures.
Highlights
Agricultural sustainability can be improve by using multispecies plant mixtures, which can exploit complementary and interspecific interactions within more intensively managed grassland system (Finn et al, 2013)
After a common cut performed in late winter, each plot was splitted in order to compare different cutting regimes, according to the burr medic phenological stages: two cuts, T1 = Early Flowering (EF) and Pod Maturing (PM) vs three cuts, T2 = Early Flowering (EF), Full Flowering (FF) and Pod Maturing (PM)
Significant differences among mixtures and between cutting regimes were found for Dry matter yield (DMY), without significant interaction in each year (Table 1)
Summary
Agricultural sustainability can be improve by using multispecies plant mixtures, which can exploit complementary and interspecific interactions within more intensively managed grassland system (Finn et al, 2013). Grass-legume mixtures are established to improve pasture and field conditions and are preferred over pure-grass forage stands throughout the world because they increase the total yields of herbage and protein and offer balanced nutrition (Albayrak and Ekiz, 2005). Maintenance of the balance between grasses and legumes in the mixed stand is of great importance as grasses are more efficient than legumes for nutrient uptake (Kyriazopoulos et al, 2012). Mixtures offer several potential advantages over stands.
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