Use of water by six grass species. 1. Dry-matter yields and response to irrigation

Abstract

The yield and quality of herbage produced by six grasses (perennial ryegrass, cocksfoot, timothy, rough-stalked meadow grass, tall fescue and Italian ryegrass) were examined both without irrigation and under two irrigation regimes. Water was applied according to the potential soil water deficit (potential SWD): the soil was either partially returned to field capacity (FC) after each cut or fully returned to FC whenever the potential SWD reached 25 mm. The swards were cut either at 3 (C 3 ) or 6 (C 6 ) week intervals over a 2 year period. Partial irrigation increased yields by 12-14 % in the first year and by 36-58 % in the second. Full irrigation produced little more growth than partial irrigation in the first year (maximum SWD, 188 mm) but increased yield by 78-93 % in the second, very dry, year (maximum SWD, 311 mm). Under treatment C 3 response per unit of water applied was similar with both partial and full irrigation, but under C 6 the response was greater with partial (2-86 kg D.M./m 3 ) than with full irrigation (1-79 kg D.M./m 3 ).There were marked differences between the species in their ability to grow under drought conditions in the second year of the experiment. Without irrigation, roughstalked meadow grass and Italian ryegrass did not survive the drought. The performance of tall fescue was markedly superior to both perennial ryegrass and cocksfoot in these conditions. Of the surviving grasses timothy made least growth.

Effect of irrigation management on yield and water use efficiency of timothy hay in southern Alberta

“…In this project, even in the absence of moisture stress, Island 2006 1 6621a 6048a 5116b 4639b 198 2 2723a 2603a 1851b 1798b 110 Total 9345a 8651a 6968b 6437b 265 2007 1 7637a 7243ab 7057ab 6432b 258 2 2663a 2204a 2347a 2552a 192 Total 10300a 9448ab 9404ab 8984b 262 Picture Butte 2006 1 5964a 6715b 6266ab 6652b 143 2 3404a 3872a 3700a 3942a timothy did not grow vigorously in hot summer temperatures. Others (Garwood et al 1979;Riley 1992) have reported similar observations on the effect of temperature on timothy growth. Timothy hay does not grow well in hot and dry, and hot or dry climatic conditions (Smith 1972;Garwood et al 1979;Riley 1992;Hutton 1994).…”

“…Others (Garwood et al 1979;Riley 1992) have reported similar observations on the effect of temperature on timothy growth. Timothy hay does not grow well in hot and dry, and hot or dry climatic conditions (Smith 1972;Garwood et al 1979;Riley 1992;Hutton 1994). Smith (1972) compared timothy growth under different temperatures and reported that it was more productive under a 21/168C day/night combination than under warmer (32/278C, 27/218C) or colder (16/108C) conditions.…”

“…Studies involving timothy production and quality (Jefferson et al 2001), stand establishment (Clark and Smith 2001), effects of temperature on DM production (Smith 1972), biomass partitioning (Bre´gard et al 2001), digestibility (McElroy and Christie 1986), and cutting schedules for maximum DM yield (Winch et al 1970) have been completed. Limited work on the impacts of irrigation on water the use and DM yield of timothy hay has been reported in Asia and Europe (Garwood et al 1979;Fransen and Hudson 2005). Garwood et al (1979) showed that irrigation increased DM yield for timothy.…”

“…Limited work on the impacts of irrigation on water the use and DM yield of timothy hay has been reported in Asia and Europe (Garwood et al 1979;Fransen and Hudson 2005). Garwood et al (1979) showed that irrigation increased DM yield for timothy. They also observed timothy to grow the least compared with tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, and cocksfoot in drought conditions.…”

Water-stress effects on forage quality of alfalfa

“…Some studies have reported no effect of soil-moisture conditions on the digestibility of forages (Hidiroglou et al, 1966;Taylor et al, 1976;Spurway et al, 1976). Garwood et al (1979) …”