Fall dormancy and cutting frequency impact on alfalfa yield and yield components

Ventroni, Leandro M.; Volenec, Jeffrey J.; Cangiano, C. A.

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2010.07.015

Cited by 77 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Research reported by Ventroni et al . () in temperate areas of Argentina reached a similar conclusion.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Morphological development and dry weight distribution of alfalfa cultivars varying in fall dormancy under a short‐term cultivation system

Hou

et al. 2017

Grassland Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Non‐dormant alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) has been cultivated successfully in the east central regions of China as a short‐term component of a forage‐grain rotation system, but it remains unclear how shoots of alfalfa with different levels of fall dormancy develop in this system. Five alfalfa cultivars with contrasting fall dormancy were sown in the field in Nanjing, China, in October 2012 and 2013, and were harvested three times in the following year. The number and dry weight of shoots that originated from crown (crown shoots) and axillary buds (axial shoots) were recorded at each harvest. The results were analyzed for dormant, semi‐dormant and non‐dormant cultivars over 2 years. At the first spring harvest, axial shoots accounted for an average of 18.3% of dry weight per plant and became the dominant shoot type during later harvests. Crown shoots accounted for 81.7% of plant dry weight in first harvest and the majority of dry weight per plant totaled over three harvests in all fall dormancy types. Fall dormancy had little effect on the relative proportion of crown and axial shoots in dry weight per plant, and the number of crown and axial shoots. Non‐dormant cultivars produced heavier individual crown and axial shoots, resulting in greater dry weight per plant at each harvest. Our results show that non‐dormant cultivars used in our study produce greater dry weight per plant under a short‐term cultivation system, primarily because they have greater dry weight of individual crown and axial shoots.

show abstract

“…Research reported by Ventroni et al . () in temperate areas of Argentina reached a similar conclusion.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Morphological development and dry weight distribution of alfalfa cultivars varying in fall dormancy under a short‐term cultivation system

Hou

et al. 2017

Grassland Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Whatever the environmental It is widely recognised that mechanical defoliation and defoliation by grazing animals is different in terms of the effects on plants and nutrient cycling (Korte & Harris, 1987;White, 1973), with grazing being less uniform than cutting and potentially causing damage to the plants. However, previous literature indicates that defoliation interval is a key driver of defoliation effects on lucerne, whether cut or grazed (Bélanger et al, 1999;Harvey, Widdup, & Barrett, 2014;Ventroni, Volenec, & Cangiano, 2010) and thus our results should have relevance to both situations. Further, results obtained under grazing in New Zealand (Teixeira et al, 2007) are, in several respects, in accord with the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Maximising lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) production with fixed‐length recovery intervals after defoliation in mild winter environments

Clark¹,

Mitchell²,

Nie³

et al. 2018

J Agronomy Crop Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) is an important temperate legume for livestock production systems. Lucerne requires a recovery period after a defoliation event so that taproot energy and nutrient stores can be replenished. A field experiment examined the effects of recovery period management following defoliation, on lucerne herbage production and nutritive value at two contrasting sites in Victoria, Australia. Sites were established at Rutherglen and Hamilton, using established SARDI Seven lucerne stands. Treatments were short recovery (SR; plots cut at 21‐day intervals), long recovery (LR; plots cut at 42‐day intervals), new shoots (NS; plots cut when new shoots from the crown were at least 2 cm long) and new shoots + flowering (NSF; as for NS but plots were left to grow to reach late flowering from late summer to mid‐autumn). At each defoliation, measurements were made of phenology, dry matter production and herbage nutrient concentrations (neutral detergent fibre, crude protein, metabolisable energy and water‐soluble carbohydrate %). Persistence was measured at approximately 6‐month intervals. At both sites, lucerne persisted equally well in all treatments although SR showed some decline at Hamilton at the final measurement. LR led to a more productive pasture (in terms of cumulative dry matter, neutral detergent fibre, crude protein, metabolisable energy and water‐soluble carbohydrate %) than the three other treatments. The results indicate that phenological management systems that allow lucerne to replenish reserves through late summer and autumn are unnecessary in mild winter environments.

show abstract

“…Barnes et al (1979) divided alfalfa cultivars into three FD types: dormant (FD 1, 2, 3), semi-dormant (FD 4,5,6) and non-dormant (FD 7,8,9) cultivars. Although nondormant alfalfa cultivars have poor winter survival in areas with frigid winters, they are more desirable than dormant cultivars in regions with mild winters because they produce more herbage in autumn, resume shoot growth earlier in spring and initiate shoot growth more quickly after harvest, resulting in higher forage yield (Ventroni et al 2010). Non-dormant cultivars continue to grow in autumn and frequently exhibit sub-lethal or lethal winter injury (Wang et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of root C and N reserves on shoot regrowth of defoliated alfalfa cultivars differing in fall dormancy

Hou

et al. 2017

Grassland Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Key determinants of regrowth rate following harvest in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) are the levels of root carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) reserves. This study was undertaken to assess the impact of alfalfa cultivars differing in fall dormancy on regrowth potential in relation to the quantitative changes in root C and N reserves at the onset of regrowth. Five contrasting alfalfa cultivars were grown in the field and were harvested three times. Shoot regrowth dry weight increased significantly with decreasing fall dormancy. Alfalfa cultivars with less dormancy tended to have higher concentrations of root C and N reserves, whereas significantly greater pools of root C and N reserves were found in roots at each harvest time because of greater root dry weight. Shoot regrowth was positively correlated to the pools of root soluble sugar, starch and total non‐structural carbohydrates, but not correlated to their concentrations at each harvest time. Shoot regrowth was also linearly related to the pools of root total N and soluble proteins, but not consistently related to their concentrations. Our results suggest that the total amount of C and N organic reserves in alfalfa roots rather than their concentrations are determining factors of shoot regrowth.

show abstract

Fall dormancy and cutting frequency impact on alfalfa yield and yield components

Cited by 77 publications

References 30 publications

Morphological development and dry weight distribution of alfalfa cultivars varying in fall dormancy under a short‐term cultivation system

Morphological development and dry weight distribution of alfalfa cultivars varying in fall dormancy under a short‐term cultivation system

Maximising lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) production with fixed‐length recovery intervals after defoliation in mild winter environments

Impact of root C and N reserves on shoot regrowth of defoliated alfalfa cultivars differing in fall dormancy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About