Highly-productive seed grass stands of meadow fescue pasture-lawn ecotype

Abstract

Efficiency of industrial use of agricultural crops is determined by economic parameters of varieties and technologies of their cultivation. The paper determines appropriate seeding rates and planting methods for meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.) of pasture and lawn Quart variety. These rates and methods contribute to better structure of seed grass for maximum yield on sod-podzolic soils in the central part of Russia. The authors found out that sowing from 4 to 16 kg/ ha of oatmeal seeds with a row spacing of 15 and 30 cm results in the shoots equal to 59 to 69 %. In this case, the authors observed inverse pattern of reducing the value of the index of shoots with increased seeding rate and row spacing. Breeding highly productive seed agrophytocenoses with efficient parameters of structure and sowing density (132-254 un /m2) at three-year usage of herbage is recommended to be carried out by means of row planting (15 cm) or skip-row planting (30 cm) with 8-4 sowing rates kg/ha (3,6-1.8 million un/ha of germinating seeds). This results in receiving 429-446 seed yield kg/ha during three years of usage. Most efficient way of initiation highly productive seed grass stands of meadow fescue Quart variety is seen as open sowing. It forms 13% higher number of generative shoots with 14% higher seed content in the first year of undersowing. In the second and third years of application, the influence of nurse crop on the aftereffect on meadow fescue productivity is not observed. Cultivation of meadow fescue with a sub-method is cost-effective. Efficiency of meadow fescue seeds in open sowing is 89 %, when sown under barley it was equal to 82 %. The authors make a case that the way of seed initiation of meadow fescue grass stands and nurse crop in the commercial production of seeds should be based on economic activity of seed breeding enterprises.