Herbage Yield Research Articles

Evaluation of Bioethanol Yield Potential of Different Sweet Sorghum Cultivars Grown as a Second Crop Under Eastern Mediterranean Conditions

Sweet sorghum has a high potential for bioethanol production due to its high fermentable sugar content and biomass yield. This research was carried out to evaluate bioethanol yield potential of six sweet sorghum cultivars (ICSV 93046, ICSV 700, Black Amber, White African, Gülşeker, and Red’s Red) during summer growing season of 2022 under eastern Mediterranean conditions. Cultivars were significantly differed for brix degree, green herbage yield, juice yield, and juice ethanol yields in the study. ICSV 93046 produced the significantly highest fresh stem yield (58811 kg/ha), juice yield (16105 kg/ha), and juice ethanol yield (1194 L/ha) and followed by ICSV 700. On the other hand, the significantly lowest brix degree (10.5 ◦ Bx) and juice ethanol yield (322 L/ha) were achieved by Gülşeker. These results suggested that ICSV 93046 was the most suitable cultivar to be grown as a second crop for bioethanol production under eastern Mediterranean conditions.

Investigation on Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) Cultivation in Aquaponic Aquaculture (Carp, Cyprinus carpio L.)

Aquaponic production system, which creates a sustainable production ecosystem by bringing water, fish, and plants together in a closed system, is a reflection of sustainable economic activities in aquaculture. In this context, the aim of the study was to investigate the cultivation possibilities of carp, lavender, and basil in two different grow beds (water and mollusc shell) created in the aquaponic production system. Basil and lavender as plant material and carp as fish material were used in the study. The experimental design was formed from 12 pots of 90 L volume, and the experiment was continued for 60 days with 3 replications. In the study, reasonably high values for specific growth rate (1.96±0.01 g), condition factor (1.5), and survival rate (97.05%) were obtained in carp. While basil (23.5 cm, 23.5 cm, and 16.5 cm) and lavender (16.57 cm, 15.14 cm end 9.73 cm) grown in water media performed better in terms of plant height, root length, and dry herb yield, the green herb yields of basil (49 cm) and Levander (19 cm) were found to be high for both plants in the mollusc shell media. The maximum NH4, NO3+NO2, and PO4 values were determined as 1.30 mg L-1 (in 3. quarter and fish tank), 40.07 mg/L (in 3. quarter and Levander shell group), and 0.37 mg L-1 (in 1. quarter and basil shell group) respectively.

Effects of Different Harvest Stages on Forage Yield and Quality of Soybean Cultivars Grown as Second Crops

In this study, the effect of three different harvesting stages [full bloom stage (R2), full pod stage (R4), and full seed stage (R6)] on forage yield and quality of three soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) cultivars (Adasoy, Derry and Yeşilsoy) were evaluated under Mediterranean climate conditions in Adana, Türkiye in second crop seasons. Plant height, green herbage yield, dry matter yield, crude protein (CP), crude protein yield (CPY), leaf and stem ratio, dry matter intake (DMI), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), digestible dry matter (DDM) and relative feed value (RFV) were determined. The results showed that the average plant height of three soybean cultivars was 106.5-203.5 cm and green herbage yield was 190 42-603 50 kg ha-1. The highest values were obtained from cv. Derry at R4 and R6 harvest stages. In both years, the highest CPY values were determined from the R6 harvest stages. Obtained ADF, NDF, DMI, DDM, and RFV values were found to be between 32.8-47.1%, 41.1-59.3%, 2.0-3.6%, 52.1-63.3%, 83.0-180.2%, respectively, and the best results were obtained from the R6 harvest stage of cv. Yeşilsoy. According to these results, in second crop conditions, while cv. Derry came to the fore of soybean yield, cv. Yeşilsoy stands out in terms of quality. As a result, it is thought that it is appropriate to harvest soybean in the R6 harvest period, the use of soybean as a green herbage should be expanded and its addition to feed rations can provide positive contributions.

Yem bezelyesi çeşitlerinin farklı fenolojik dönemlerdeki verim ve kalite özellikleri

Agricultural areas that rely on a single crop for production experience negative soil characteristics, while the benefits of these locations are further diminished by short-term winter fallows. In the ecological conditions of the Aegean Region, cotton-cotton and maize-maize production patterns can be given as examples of this type of production. With the adoption of a sustainable agriculture approach in recent years, the use of winter annual forage crops is quite important in terms of preventing this situation. The inclusion of forage pea in the production patterns both contributes positively to the soil properties and is a potential source of quality roughage. In line with this information, 8 different forage pea varieties (Kirazlı, Ulubatlı, Ürünlü, Gölyazı, Özkaynak, Töre, Taşkent, GAP Pembesi) were harvested at 3 different phenological stages (10%, 50%, 100% flowering) in Aydın ecological conditions. Some agronomic characteristics such as plant height (cm), stem diameter (mm), herbage yield (kg da-1) were measured in the experiment. After the measurements, ADF (%), NDF (%), ADL (%), protein properties and relative feed value were determined. While lower values were found in terms of yield and fiber values in early mowing, higher values were found in terms of crude protein ratio and relative feed value. At the same time, the variety-environment interactions showed differences in both years. Our results demonstrated that 100% flowering is preferable in terms of yield. Differences were observed among the varieties according to yield and quality characteristics. In terms of herbage and crude protein yields, Töre, Taşkent and GAP Pembesi were the most prominent common varieties. In terms of relative feed value, Ulubatlı and Ürünlü are the varieties with high values.

Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Seed Yield, Quality and Economics of Seed Production in Lucerne during Rabi Season

The field experiment was conducted to study the effect of integrated nutrient management on seed yield, quality and economics of seed production in Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) at the farm field of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Konehalli, Tiptur taluk of Tumkuru district under southern dry zone of Karnataka during rabi seasons 2017-18. The experiments plots were laid out nine treatments with four replication and Randomized complete block design (RCBD). The results revealed that the maximum fresh herb yield at first harvest of herb (174.07 q/ha), herb yield after harvest of seeds (196.76 q/ha), early flowering (25.52 days), 50% flowering (33.45 days), pod initiation (46.90 days), pod maturation (71.68 days) were recorded during rabi seasons with application of 50 % RDF + 25 % N through vermicompost + Rhizobium + PSB + VAM. Whereas, minimum fresh herb yield, delayed flowering, pod initiation, pod maturation were recorded with application of 10 t/ha FYM + 100 % N through FYM.
 The plants supplied with 50 % RDF + 25 % N through vermicompost + Rhizobium + PSB + VAM was resulted maximum pod set per cent (57.85 %), number of pods per plant (242.45), pod yield per plant (21.10), pod length (6.42 mm), pod weight (90.10 mg), seed set per cent (63.70 %), number of seeds per pod (5.68), test weight (3.36 g), seed yield (231.02 kg/ha) and highest net return per hectare during rabi season, while, least pod and seed characters, seed yield and net return per hectare were recorded with application of 10 t/ha FYM + 100 % N through FYM. Therefore, plants supplied with 50 % RDF + 25 % N through vermicompost + Rhizobium + PSB + VAM may be recommended for commercial seed production in Lucerne during rabi season under southern dry zone of Karnataka.

Effect of drying techniques on essential oil yield and their quality of lemongrass [Cymbopogon flexuosus (Nees ex Steud) Wats] cultivars Krishna and CKP-25

An experiment was conducted on popularly cultivated two cultivars (cv.Krishna and cv. CKP-25) of Lemongrass (C. flexuous [Nees ex Steud) Wats] at FFDC, Kannauj in August 2015 and replicated in February 2016 to examine the effect on different drying techniques by adopting other parameters. The study recorded different parameters at intervals of 7 days during plantation. Cultivar Krishna was more favourable in herbage yield, oil percentage, and oil yield than cv. CKP-25.The semi-dried condition of CV. Krishna was found to be highest in oil percentage, i.e., 1.5 ± 0.08%, followed by shade and sun-shade-dried oil percentage was found as 1.4 ± 0.07% each, and the most negligible value was by fresh leaves, i.e., 0.7 ± 0.03%, whereas cv. CKP-25 oil percentages in semi-dried and shade-dried were found to be highest at 0.9 ± 0.05% each; sun-shade-dried and fresh leaves were 0.8 ± 0.04% and 0.6 ± 0.03%, respectively. In physical analysis, the value of cv. Krishna showed optical rotation in the ranges of -3.0 to -1.62, a refractive index of 1.4785 to 1.4791 at 27 °C, and a specific gravity of 0.8901- 0.8932 at 27°C. However, cv. CKP-25 showed optical rotation in the ranges of -2.4 to -1.31, a refractive index of 1.4724- 1.4829 at 27 °C, and a Specific gravity of 0.8819- 0.8854. All the values were under the range of BIS standards. In an instrumental analysis of the GLC report, citral content was recorded cv. CKP-25 showed a higher citral content of 83.95% in semi-dried conditions than cv. Krishna of 74.5%. The cv. (Krishna) in sun-shade dried, had 79.88%, followed by shade-dried at 76.83% and fresh leaves at 75.71%. Whereas, in cv. CKP-25, sun-shade-dried 83.24%, shade-dried 82.19%, and freshly harvested leaves showed 76.31% citral content, respectively. Keywords: Citral content, CKP-25, Cymbopogon flexuosus cv. Krishna, Drying methods, Lemongrass, Oil percentage, Physical analysis

CIM-Suras: A menthol rich, erect growth habit, sucker producing and high yielding peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) variety

Peppermint (Mentha piperita L., Lamiaceae), is an essential oil-bearing crop cultivated in temperate and sub-tropical countries for perfumery and aroma industries. The plant is vegetatively propagated through runners derived from mother stalks of the plants, resulting in a low genetic base. Induced mutagenesis is a unique and supplemental breeding approach to overcome the limitations of a low genetic base. A few popular varieties, namely Kukrail, Tushar, Pranjal and CIM-Madhuras, have already been released for commercial cultivation. However, all of those have creeping growth habit, propagation only by runners, low oil content, low oil yield, and higher than 5% menthofuran content. Due to these drawbacks of previously released varieties, CSIR- CIMAP has used mutation breeding to develop a peppermint variety with erect growth habit, sucker-producing ability, and increased oil yield with high menthol and low menthofuran content. CIMAP/MPS-36, a half-sib seed progeny of variety Kukrail, served as the mother genotype for mutation breeding using different doses of gamma irradiation. A mutant, MPS-3633, was identified as a novel and promising mutant with a distinct quality of peppermint oil and released for its commercial cultivation in the name of variety CIM-Suras. CIM-Suras displayed novel and industrially useful characteristics, i.e. high menthol (68–78%) content with low menthofuran (0.2-0.8%) content, sucker generating, erect growth habit, flower-bearing and an increase in herb yield, oil content, and oil yield. This cultivar could be a sustainable solution to bottlenecks of already released peppermint varieties. Further, dementholisation (DMO) can be used as peppermint oil and to extract menthol from oil.

English

The importance of medicinal and aromatic plants in people's lives is growing due to their various uses and diverse cultivation conditions. This study aimed to determine the yield and yield components and quality features (oil ratio and fatty acid composition according to GC-MS) of six different tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) local breeds grown organically in Bayburt province, Turkey. For this purpose, the data obtained by growing the plants in the experimental area during the two crop years, 2018 and 2019, were evaluated. As for the yield values, the highest values for green herb yield (275.41 kg ha-1), drug herb yield (99.89 kg ha-1), drug-herb percentage (44.00%), green leaf yield (208.97 kg ha-1), green leaf percentage (75.09%) and drog leaf yield (72.48 kg ha-1) were found in the local breed from Bayburt Central location. It was found that the oil percentages, evaluated to determine the quality traits, ranged from 5.39% to 7.02%. The most important fatty acid was α- linolenic acid (9.49%-23.1%), followed by linoleic acid (4.18%-13.89%) and palmitic acid (4.05-13.89%). As far as we know, this is the first study investigating tarragon's total oil content and fatty acid composition. The results show that the total oil content of this plant, which has remarkable pharmacological effects, is present in useful quantities compared to the leafy green and does not contain fatty acids that prevent its consumption as food. Therefore, this plant is expected to be used directly in various food products

Comparison of the effects of calcium ammonium nitrate and stabilized urea fertilizers on grass and silage yields and quality

AbstractEffects of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) and Stabilized Urea (SU) fertilizers were compared for herbage yield and composition and silage composition of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) swards over a two‐year study. The aim of this experiment was to establish the likely impacts of farmers transitioning to using SU fertilizers in order to reduce the nitrogenous emissions associated with silage production as the agriculture industry moves to address the challenges of climate change. Experimental plots of 7.5 m2 area were established in a randomized block experiment comprising 4 replicates of 18 treatments in a 3 × 6 factorial design (4 × 3 × 6 = 72 plots) for each of 3 silage harvest periods in 2018, and repeated in 2019. Herbage samples and yield measurements were collected weekly for weeks 2–7 post fertilizer application, and herbage harvested after seven weeks regrowth was ensiled and silage was analysed after 100 days. There were no significance differences overall between responses of CAN and SU fertilized plots in terms of grass dry matter (DM) yield and quality parameters (acid detergent fibre (ADF), ash, buffering capacity (BC), metabolisable Energy (ME), nitrate (NO32−), nitrogen (N), or water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) or silage quality parameters (DM, volatile corrected organic dry matter (VCODM), ammonia nitrogen as a fraction of total nitrogen (NH3‐N/ Total N), pH, crude protein (CP), lactic acid (LA), acetic acid (AA), propionic acid (PA), butyric acid (BA), ethanol, propanol, ADF, ash, WSC or dry matter digestibility (DMD). Numerous significant differences between week and between cut were identified for grass quality, silage quality and grass ensilability parameters, and in the grass DM yields recorded. However, in many instances there was no associated treatment effect identified. There were no significant interactions between CAN and SU treatments and either cut, or week for nitrate concentration or yield. Variance of nitrate concentration was highest at the third cut and indicates a reduction in the nitrogen use efficiency of the 3rd cut silage harvest, potentially demonstrating a need to reduce fertilizer application recommendations for late‐season silage harvests. Overall, the results of this study support the hypothesis that replacing the currently favoured CAN fertilizer products with SU will not impact production of grass silage in Northern Ireland, meaning SU can be confidently adopted by farmers as a mitigation strategy to reduce farm nitrogenous emissions without reducing levels of sward productivity. This study recorded average annual grass silage DM yields of 15.5 and 16.1 t DM/ha from the CAN and SU fertilizer treatments respectively, which were not significantly different. In addition, the yield gain response to the application of each fertilizer type were not significantly different at 21.51 and 23.24 kg of DM produced for every kg of N applied as SU or CAN respectively, relative to control plots receiving 0 nitrogen.

Differential Expression of Oman’s Wild Lavender, Lavandula subnuda for Chemical Composition towards Medicinal and Aromatic Application

Plants have been used directly or indirectly as medicines for over 5000 years as a source of antibiotics, antineoplastics, analgesics, and cardio-protective, among others. Approximately 70–90% of the population in developing countries continue to use ancient medicines based on plant extracts for treatment. Recently, the isolation and identification of biologically active compounds and molecules from nature have led to the discovery of new therapeutics, prompting the improvement of the health and pharmaceutical sectors. Phytochemicals revolve around the pharmaceutical industry's research and development (R&D) sector as a source of new molecules leading to the development of new novel drugs. Given the above, the present investigation addresses the differential nature of wild lavender (Lavandula subnuda Benth) plants of diverse locations in Oman with respect to their chemical composition of the essential oil in addition to morphological characters and chlorophyll contents of leaves to explore the possibility of isolating its prime chemical compounds on a commercial scale in perfumery industry. There are no previous studies so far who have reported on essential oil recovery and chemical composition exclusively in respect of Lavandula subnuda. Composite samples of ten randomly selected plants were collected from wadi habitats of four diversified locations. Edaphic features of managed sites were recorded, and their soil chemical contents were determined following instructions using S1 Titan/Tracer 5/CTX equipment of Bruker developed based on energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). Morphological traits were measured using a ruler, and chlorophyll contents were recorded using the atLEAF CHL Plus chlorophyll meter as atLEAF values. The essential oil was extracted using ETHO X's advanced microwave extraction system and analyzed for chemical compounds using GC-MS analysis on Shimadzu GC-2010 Plus gas chromatograph. The experimental data were analyzed statistically, wherever required, by applying basic statistics of the EXCEL -16 version. The results indicated that in general, the Lavandula subnuda plants of locations of high altitudes had higher expressivity in all the morphological traits and chlorophyll contents than those of low altitudes. The essential oil recovery, however, was found to be higher from the plant samples of lower altitudes (0.70 to 0.79% (w/w)) than from those of higher mountains/ altitudes (0.15 to 0.18% (w/w)). The pattern of values of commonly occurring chemical contents of essential oils was different. Each essential oil's top ten chemical compounds contributed about 80% of the total in four locations. Of the ten top chemical compounds, eight compounds, namely D-Germacrene (42.67%) from Wadi Al-Khod, Estragole (32%) and Linalool (23.89%) from Wadi Halban), trans-Borneol (23.46%) and 4-Terpineol (18.73%) from Wadi Najd Al-Waqba and Kessane (18.60%), beta-cis-Caryophyllene (13.68%) and beta-Elemene (10.618%) from Wadi Al-Hayul, were found highest in quantity and had huge potential for further application. It is concluded that there exists a higher possibility of adapting Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) to produce the highest herbage yield of vegetative parts of Lavandula subnuda plants based on morphological features under wild conditions to extract these compounds on a commercial scale in both the pharmaceutical and perfumery industries.
 Keywords: Morphology, Chlorophyll, Chemical compounds, Differential Expression, Lavandula subnuda,, Lamiaceae

Melatonin Enhanced Drought Stress Tolerance and Productivity of Pelargonium graveolens L. (Herit) by Regulating Physiological and Biochemical Responses

As a type of abiotic stress, drought limits plant growth and productivity. The increased demand for the valuable essential oil extracted from geranium (Pelargonium graveolens L.) is mainly regulated by plant growth, which is adversely affected by drought. Melatonin (MT) has been used to enhance plant growth under various abiotic stresses, although its impact on overcoming drought stress in aromatic plants, including geranium, has not yet been investigated. In the current investigation, MT at 100 µM was applied at 100% (well-watered) or 50% (drought stress) field capacity to verify the role of MT in geranium under drought stress. Drought stress markedly reduced growth parameters, herb yield, and total chlorophyll content; however, MT alleviated these effects. The herb yield of the stressed plants was reduced by 59.91% compared to the unstressed plants, while this reduction was only 14.38% when MT was applied. In contrast, drought enhanced the essential oil percentage in geranium leaves. Despite the reduction in oil yield caused by drought, MT application mitigated this reduction and improved both oil yield and oil components. Moreover, the MT treatment enhanced the accumulation of total phenols, glutathione, and proline and improved the activity of ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione reductase, resulting in the alleviation of drought-induced oxidative damage. Consequently, MT reduced both hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde accumulation by 71.11 and 48.30%, respectively, under drought, thereby maintaining the cellular structures’ integrity. Overall, this is the first report that reveals the ability of MT application to improve geranium oil yield and resistance to drought by enhancing the antioxidant defense system. The results enrich awareness regarding the potential benefits of the external application of MT and its roles that can help researchers to improve aromatic plants’ performance and productivity under drought stress.

Effect of Organic Manures and Biofertilizers on Herb Yield and Economics of Kalmegh (Andrographis panniculata Wall. Ex. Nees. ) var. CIM Megha

Aim: To study the effect of organic manures and biofertilizers on growth, herb yield and economics of kalmegh.
 Study Design: The experiment was carried out with 13 treatments in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications.
 Place and Duration of Study: The research trial was carried out at P.G students research block, College of Horticulture, Rajendranagar, SKLTSHU, Hyderabad during Kharif, 2021.
 Results: Among the organic and biofertilizer treatments combinations the results reported that the (T6): 75 % N through VC + 12.5 % N through NC + 12.5 % N through PM + AMC recorded the highest herb yield and Benefit cost ratio compared to other treatments.
 Conclusion: Organic produce fetches higher price in market compared to inorganic produce, which helped in increasing the gross returns, net returns and highest B:C ratio.

Effects of plant spacing and rates of NPK application on the growth and yield of sweetpotato var NSIC SP30

Sweetpotato yield may be increased through effective crop management practices including plant spacing and fertilization. This study was conducted in an alluvial soil (Inceptisol) to evaluate the effects of plant spacing and rates of NPK application on the growth and yield of NSIC Sp30 sweetpotato. The experiment was laid out in a split plot arranged in RCBD with three replications. Three plant spacing treatments were designated as the main plot D1(75cmx25cm), D2(100cmx25cm), and D3(100cmx50cm). The rates of NPK application were designated as the subplot: F0(no NPK), F1(40-40-60kg ha-1 NPK), F2(60-60-90kg ha-1 NPK), and F3(80-80-120kg ha-1 NPK). Plant spacing significantly affected the number of lateral vines, weight of marketable roots, number of marketable roots, root length, and the total root yield of NSIC Sp30 sweetpotato. An interaction effect was observed between the plants spaced at 100cmx50cm with NPK application resulting in more medium-sized roots. Plants spaced at 75cmx25cm produced the highest total root yield of 7.67t ha-1. Application of NPK significantly influenced the length of main vines, fresh herbage yield, the weight of marketable roots, number of marketable roots, root length, root diameter, total root yield, LAI and HI. A higher yield of marketable roots 7,208.85kg ha-1 and a total root yield of 8.51t ha-1 were observed for plants applied with 40-40-60 kg ha-1 NPK. The growth and yield performance of NSIC Sp30 is better when plants are spaced at 75cmx25cm with 53,333 plants ha-1 and fertilized with 40-40-60kg ha-1 of NPK.

Effect of Cereals Type and Watering Level on Morphometric Characteristics, Herbage Yield and Proximate Compositions of Hydroponic Fodder

This research was conducted at Prof. Lawal Abdu Saulawa Livestock Teaching and Research Farm, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, Nigeria. The experiment was conducted to examine the effect of cereal type, levels of watering (volume of water), morphometric characteristics, herbage yield and nutritional quality of hydroponically sprouted fodder of three different cereals (Maize, Sorghum and Millet). A completely randomised design (CRD) was deployed with three replicates per treatment. Results obtained indicated that significant differences (P<0.05) were recorded in mat-depth and fodder yield among the cereals. However, no significant differences (P>0.05) were observed in plant height and average leaf number. Furthermore, significant differences (P<0.05) were noticed in leaf length and width. Results of the proximate compositions showed that significant differences (P<0.05) were recorded in crude protein and crude fibre content. It can, therefore, be concluded that sorghum with 900ml of water recorded the best mat-depth and fodder yield, followed by maize. It is, therefore, recommended that sorghum could be used for the production of hydroponic fodder with 900ml of water per day.

Growth, herbage yield and quality evaluation of turfgrasses species under agro-ecological conditions of Iğdir, Turkey

Growth, herbage yield and quality evaluation of turfgrasses species under agro-ecological conditions of Iğdir, Turkey

Fertilization of Annual Grasses on Gray Forest Soils of the Vladimir Opole

In a long-term stationary experiment, the effect of fertilizers on the yield of annual grasses (vetch and pea mixtures) and the nitrifying activity of gray forest soils were studied. For 8 years, both without the use of fertilizers and with them, the yield of herbs changed by 1.72–1.88 times. It was found that the use of nitrogen of mineral fertilizers provided 88.3% of the total variation in their yield, the aftereffect of manure – 8.1, the aftereffect of РК fertilizers – 1.8%. For 7 out of 8 years, a high degree of correlation between the yield of grasses and the reserves of N-NO3 in the 0–40 cm layer of soil in the phase of grass germination was revealed. At the same time, the minimum reserves of N-NO3 were formed at a hydrothermal coefficient for the growing season equal to 1.21. The use of fertilizers, increased moisture content and temperatures during the growing season of grasses led to an increase in the nitrification activity of gray forest soil. It is proposed to evaluate the participation of mobile forms of nitrogen in plant nutrition in relation to the content of N-NO3 in the soil to the content of N-NH4 in the water extract (1 : 1). The values of this parameter in the phases of germination and harvesting of grasses confirmed the determining role of N-NO3 reserves in the nutrition of annual grasses. The difference coefficients of the use of nitrogen Naa in doses N60 and N75, which ranged from 40 to 49%, were calculated. An algorithm for calculating the size of the accumulation of N-NO3 during the growing season of grasses is proposed. In nitrogen-fertilized variants, a good coincidence of the utilization coefficients of accumulating N-NO3 reserves with the difference ones has been established.

Morphological, physicochemical, and bioactive characteristics of Hypericum perforatum genotypes, and their classification by GT-Biplot approach

Thirty-three different Hypericum perforatum genotypes were characterized in terms of morphological (plant height, herbage yields), physicochemical (ash, cellulose, protein, and colour), and bioactive properties. The antioxidant and antibacterial capacity were also assessed. All genotype samples were characterized as flower part and whole plant (aerial part). It was observed that the plant height ranged between 21.6 and 96.6 cm and whole plant drog yield was in the range of 11–146 g. Bioactivity showed wide distribution for the samples and all bioactive parameter values were measured as lower for the whole plant compared to the flower part. Total phenolic content ranged between 60.39-110.54 and 49.08–89.53 mg GAE/g for the flower part and whole plant, respectively. Flower extracts also showed good inhibition activity against some Gram (+) bacteria. The GT-Biplot statistical mathematical classification approach was applied to reveal the promising genotypes.

Shoot nitrogen concentrations required for optimal herbage growth of multiple perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) cultivars relative to modern summer‐active cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) cultivars

AbstractOne possible approach for improving the nitrogen (N)‐use efficiency of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) pastures and reducing environmental N losses is to select cultivars or incorporate alternative pasture species with lower shoot N concentrations. Viability of this strategy depends on herbage production not being unduly compromised. A pot experiment compared the shoot N concentration requirements of a diverse range of perennial ryegrass cultivars to achieve 90% and 99% of the herbage yield maxima achievable within a 20 day regrowth cycle. This research was undertaken to quantify if and what effect Australasian breeding programs have had on the N nutrition of perennial ryegrass. Our experiment found minimal genetic variation in the shoot N concentration requirements for vegetative perennial ryegrass swards to achieve near‐maximum herbage yields of living biomass. Across evaluated cultivars, swards achieving 90% and 99% of herbage yield maxima required minimum shoot N concentrations (on a dry matter basis) of 2.56% and 2.87%, respectively. Our experiment also evaluated the shoot N concentration requirements of modern summer‐active cocksfoot (syn. orchardgrass; Dactylis glomerata L.) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) ecotypes. We found their shoot N concentration requirements to achieve optimal herbage growth to be similar to those of perennial ryegrass. Taken together, our results suggest that within the perennial ryegrass genome, and among similar high yielding temperate perennial grasses, there may be limited scope for selecting plants with lower shoot N concentration requirements.

Depolymerised Sodium Alginate as a Eco-Friendly Biostimulant for Improving Herb Yield and Nutrient Accumulation in Hyssop

Depolymerised Sodium Alginate as a Eco-Friendly Biostimulant for Improving Herb Yield and Nutrient Accumulation in Hyssop

Yield of lucerne-grass mixtures did not differ from lucerne pure stands in a multi-site field experiment

Changing climatic conditions in north-western Europe require adaptations in management of ley grassland, requiring new grass-legume mixture designs in response to increased variability in precipitation and warmer summers. Evaluation of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.)-grass swards with the grasses cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), which are potentially more tolerant to summer water shortage, have yet to be evaluated under the agro-climatic conditions of north-western Europe. We tested these grasses in three-species swards and binary lucerne grass swards and compared them against pure stands and a standard lucerne-grass mixture. The study was conducted in eight environments resulting from the combination of four soil sites during the two full main production years 2020 and 2021 with an annual precipitation range of 416–839 mm. Swards were harvested three to five times annually and the accumulated herbage dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) yields, as well as species proportions were recorded. We found an average yield of 11.1 t DM ha-1 and no significant differences in herbage DM yields between lucerne pure stands and the different mixture swards. This pattern was stable irrespective of environmental conditions, but in general herbage yield and aboveground N yield were affected by precipitation amount. Swards with cocksfoot had a greater grass proportion than those with tall fescue. The N yield of lucerne-grass swards was lower and declined as the grass proportion increased, and reached on average 353 kg N ha-1. The maximum N yield of lucerne pure stands was 547 kg N ha-1. Species mixtures yielded higher than expected from the pure stands (net mixture effect, NE) pointing at overyielding. Consequently, synergistic interspecific interactions occurred but did not lead to transgressive overyielding. The results indicate that the inclusion of grass species with tolerance to water shortage into lucerne-based swards offers the potential to diversify grasslands without losses of agronomic potential, at least during the first two main production years.