Morphological development of forage chicory under defoliation in the field and glasshouse

Abstract

Four field and 2 glasshouse experiments were carried out to study the morphological development of forage chicory under defoliation from 1993 to 1996 at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. ‘Grasslands Puna’ chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) was used in all experiments except the last one, where 3 cultivars, ‘Grasslands Puna’, ‘PG90’, and ‘Orchies’, were compared. Puna chicory produced 2 separate growths from the crown, one in spring and the other in autumn, when left ungrazed. Defoliation stimulated the development of secondary shoots but suppressed the development of the primary shoot. Axillary shoots, however, developed fully regardless of whether plants were defoliated. The main source of feed from chicory for livestock was primary leaves during spring, and secondary and axillary leaves during summer and autumn. Orchies produced more primary leaves than Puna an PG90 because it had a larger crown, but there were no differences in the number of secondary shoots among cultivars. The development of axillary shoots varied with cultivars.