The productivity of oats and berseem clover intercrops. II. Effects of cutting date and density of oats on annual forage yield

Abstract

Annual forage yields of intercrops of berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) and oats (Avena sativa L.), as affected by timing of initial harvest and sowing rate of oats, were investigated. Berseem clover was intercropped with oats at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 240 plants m )2 of oats in 1999 and 2000 in Alberta, Canada. Cutting date treatments involved initial harvest at 10-d intervals between 35 and 88 d after planting (DAP), and one or two subsequent harvests of regrowth. Total intercrop dry-matter (DM) yield averaged 12AE9-13AE3 t ha )1 with proportions of 0AE21-0AE43 of berseem clover in the forage. Treatments with an initial cut at the silage stage of oats (76 DAP in 1999, 88 DAP in 2000, at about soft-dough stage of oats) had greater yields of oats, lower yields of berseem clover, and lower proportions of berseem clover in total annual yields than treatments with an earlier initial cut. Total crude protein (CP) yield was greater with an initial cut at 65-66 DAP than with a silage-stage initial cut. With an initial cut at 35 DAP (before stem elongation of oats) or after 65 DAP (after heading of oats), yield potential of oats was sometimes reduced compared with silage-stage treatments, but this was balanced by a greater yield of berseem clover. The impact of harvest timing on total yield decreased as the proportion of berseem clover in the intercrops increased. With decreasing density of oats, DM yield of first-cut intercrops and total DM yield of oats decreased, while regrowth and total DM yields of berseem clover increased. Intercrops with oats at 60 plants m )2 had equal or greater total DM and CP yields than intercrops with 240 plants m )2 of oats. For intercrops with oats at 60 plants m )2 , with initial cuts at 65-66, 75-76, or 88 DAP, yields of regrowths were 0AE30-0AE35, 0AE16-0AE26 and 0AE09 of the total yield respectively. Oats-berseem clover intercrops showed potential to manipulate the pattern of annual forage yield and to provide flexibility of harvest without reducing annual yields.

Production and nutritional value of sorghum and black oat forages under nitrogen fertilization

“…Ross et al . () found CP contents ranging from 280 to 145 g CP kg −1 DM for black oat mixed with clover after 35 and 88 d respectively. Similarly, Moreira et al .…”

“…The findings of Ross et al . () also corroborate these results: they obtained values of 520 and 305 g ADF kg −1 DM. Moreira et al .…”

Sorghum and black oat forage production and its nutritive value under phosphate levels

“…We detach here that the CP concentration always decline with the plant age, as observed in figure 3f. Ross et al (2005) also found a decline from 310 to 180 g CP kg -1 DM for oats-clover mix at 35 and 88 days after planting, respectively, the same observed by other results in literature.…”

“…Souza et al (2010) also reported no effect of P 2 O 5 application on the NDF content in Tanzania Additionally, the NDF and ADF of black oat were not affected by residual phosphate (Figure 5c and 5f). Ross et al (2005) found NDF levels of 520 g kg -1 DM and ADF levels of 305 g kg -1 DM of black oat, similar to the mean NDF levels found here, and slightly higher for ADF. Also, Moreira et al (2001) reported mean NDF levels of 482 g kg -1 DM and mean ADF levels of 277 g kg -1 DM.…”

Effects of cutting frequency on alfalfa yield and yield components in Songnen Plain, Northeast China

“…Therefore, it follows that alfalfa might have little plasticity among yield components where frequent defoliation increased tiller, diminished tiller mass, and resulted in no net change in forage yield (Chapman and Lemaire, 1993). To find appropriate cutting frequency to achieve tradeoff of higher quality and yields, researches had demonstrated that fertilization had significant effect on compensatory growth after cutting and increased forage fresh yield (Lei et al, 2005;Lithourgidis et al, 2006) and reduced yield loss from cutting (Ross et al, 2005). The present study results showed that forage yield decreased and forage quality improved at F40, which were in accordance with some other researches that cutting had significant effects on forage quality and yields (Chen et al, 2003;Yang et al, 2004).…”