Herbage production and tiller density in five related grasses, their hybrids and mixtures

Abstract

SUMMARYFour grass species, three hybrids and three mixtures were grown in field swards near Aberystwyth. All swards were amply supplied with nutrients and were cut at 5-week intervals during the year of sowing (1989) and during the following 4 years. The order of the grasses in rate of establishment was: Westerwolds ryegrass > Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) > Italian ryegrass × perennial ryegrass, Italian ryegrass × meadow fescue, perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) > perennial ryegrass × meadow fescue, meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis) > tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). During the sowing year as a whole, Italian ryegrass was the highest yielding grass, followed by Westerwolds ryegrass. During the remaining period (1990–93), as a whole, the highest yields were obtained from perennial ryegrass sown alone or in a mixture with tall fescue. Tall fescue sown alone was one of the lowest yielding grasses in the year of sowing, but developed to be the highest yielding in 1992 and 1993. Westerwolds ryegrass persisted least well, although some plants did survive until 1992. Italian ryegrass persisted better than Westerwolds and Italian ryegrass × meadow fescue persisted better than Italian ryegrass. Hybrid ryegrass and perennial ryegrass × meadow fescue persisted satisfactorily but with fewer tillers/m2 than perennial ryegrass or tall fescue. The yield of tall fescue in March was as high as that of Italian ryegrass in 1990 and 1991 and higher than that of any of the other grasses in 1992 and 1993; the tiller density of tall fescue was particularly high in March. The yield of mixtures (Italian ryegrass with perennial ryegrass, Italian ryegrass with tall fescue and perennial ryegrass with tall fescue) was, on average, 2·5% more than the mean of the component species when sown alone. When grown with ryegrass, tall fescue was not prominent initially but its proportion in the sward gradually increased.