The performance of subterranean vetch (Vicia sativa ssp. amphicarpa) in a cereal/pasture rotation in north-west Syria

2002 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 609 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Street ◽  
A. M. Abd El Moneim ◽  
P. S. Cocks

The aim of this study was to determine if subterranean vetch can persist in a cereal–legume ley farming system and to determine when it is most susceptible to grazing. Grazing treatments were applied to a series of plots containing subterranean vetch during the establishment year. Thereafter the plots were alternately sown to barley or left for the vetch to regenerate. Early grazing caused a seed yield reduction of about 75%. Later grazing treatments had no effect on seed yield, which were between 1000 and 1400 kg/ha. The first cereal phase caused a 6–10-fold reduction in seed bank size. During the 2 years following the first barley year, the seed bank increased to about 900 kg/ha. The second barley year caused a 4-fold reduction in the soil seed bank. Although subterranean vetch managed to persist for 5 years, the dramatic reduction in the seed bank after the barley years indicates that subterranean vetch will not persist at a useful density in a system where 2 or more cropping years run successively. However, other studies have shown that there are enough genotypes with the necessary levels of hardseededness to fit the ley system.

1986 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Abd El-Moneim ◽  
P. S. Cocks

SUMMARYThe ley-farming system (integrated cereal and livestock production in which cerealsrotate with self-regenerating pastures) is considered to be of great potential benefit to north Africa and west Asia. In the colder parts of this region (of which north Syria is typical) its application is limited by poor adaptation of commercial medic cultivars (mainly Medicago truncatula and M. littoralis). An extended selection programme hag identified M. rigidula as adapted to the soils and climate of the region but nothing is known of its adaptation to the ley-farming system itself.An experiment which included 23 selections of M. rigidula and one each of M. rotata and M. noeana was conducted over 3 years during which herbage production, seed yield, and the fate of seeds were observed during the 1st year when pastures were established, the 2nd year when wheat was sown, and the 3rd year when the pasture regenerated. Of the 400–800 kg seed/ha produced in the 1st year an average of 87% remained in the soil in spring of the 3rd year. The weight of seed regenerating in the 3rd year varied from 30 to nearly 170 kg/ha, and herbage production, especially in winter, depended heavily on the number of regenerating seedlings. The most productive regenerating pastures produced nearly 2 t/ha of dried herbage by 1 January, and more than 6 t/ha for the whole growing season.The results showed that there was sufficient residual and newly produced seed at the end of the 3rd year to be sure that subsequent regeneration would result in similar herbage yields in the 5th year, and that the pasture was assured of long-term persistence. The significance of this for livestock production is discussed, and it is concluded that the results should encourage further investigation of grazing management and socioeconomic factors seen as constraints to introducing the ley-farming system to north Syria.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghobad SHABANI ◽  
Mohammad Reza ARDAKANI ◽  
Mohammd Reza CHAICHI ◽  
Juergen FRIEDEL ◽  
Kazem KHAVAZI ◽  
...  

The effect of different fertilizing systems on the seed yield and phosphorus uptake in annual medic (Medicago scutellata cv. Robinson) was examined at two locations under dry farming conditions in Kermanshah province, Iran, in 2009. Experiments were conducted based on a randomized complete block design with three replications; the treatments consisted of control (no fertilizer), chemical fertilizer, biological fertilizer and different combinations of chemical and biological fertilizing systems. The results showed that application of different fertilizing systems had a highly significant effect on the number of pods per plant. The highest values were obtained in the treatment using the urea chemical fertilizer + phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria + mycorrhiza. The highest soil seed bank was recorded in the nitrogen-fixing bacteria + phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria treatment; it increased the number of seeds by approximately 50 percent compared to the control (only 134 pod containing seeds). The highest pod yield was obtained after applying nitrogen-fixing bacteria + mycorrhiza (445 kg/ha), the lowest yield in the control treatment (266 kg/ha). In general, under the conditions of this experiment, the seed yield of annual medic var. Robinson receiving nitrogen-fixing + phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria out-yielded other fertilizing treatments. This indicates a synergistic interaction between these groups of bacteria that increases seed yield, the soil seed bank as well as the seed phosphorus uptake of this plant species under dry farming conditions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Loi ◽  
P. S. Cocks ◽  
J. G. Howieson ◽  
S. J. Carr

Experiments measuring seed bank size, hardseededness, and seed softening of biserrula (Biserrula pelecinus L.) were conducted at Merredin and Perth in Western Australia. At Merredin, a mixture of 2 biserrula accessions was grazed, shallow cultivated, or left uncultivated and ungrazed. Seed bank size, seedling regeneration, and seed softening were measured over 2 years. At Perth, softening of biserrula, yellow serradella, and subterranean clover seeds grown at 2 sites (Binnu and Northam) was compared on the soil surface and after burial at 2 and 10 cm over a period of 2 years. Seed bank size of biserrula at Merredin ranged from 14000 to 17500 seeds/m2. Regeneration was greater in the second year (800–1700 seedlings/m2) than in the first year (40–600 seedlings/m2). In both years the shallow cultivated treatment recorded the highest number of seedlings. About 90% of biserrula and serradella seed remained hard after 2 years on the soil surface, compared with only about 10% of subterranean clover. Serradella softened more rapidly when buried 2 cm below the soil surface (8–12% hard) than it did on the soil surface (84–92% hard) (P<0.05). In contrast, the softening of subterranean clover decreased with increasing depth. Biserrula was intermediate, although it too softened most rapidly at 2 cm (78–95% hard compared with 82–97% on the surface) (P<0.05). Rate of seed softening in all species decreased with increasing depth of burial below 2 cm. Of the 4 accessions of biserrula, an accession from Greece (83% hard after 2 years exposure) was significantly softer than the other accessions. The results indicate that biserrula is very hardseeded, although there is sufficient variation in hardseededness for the selection of somewhat softer lines. Its pattern of softening suggests that biserrula may be successful in the ley farming system (crop/pasture rotations) of southern Australia.


2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 714-719
Author(s):  
Ming LI ◽  
De-ming JIANG ◽  
Yong-ming LUO ◽  
Xiu-mei WANG ◽  
Bo LIU ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Huggins ◽  
B. A. Prigge ◽  
M. R. Sharifi ◽  
P. W. Rundel

HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 444f-445
Author(s):  
J.W. Gonzales ◽  
D.P. Coyne ◽  
W.W. Stroup

Iron deficiency chlorosis (FeDC) can cause significant seed yield reduction in dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) grown on high-pH calcareous soils. To determine the effects of FeDC on seed yield, and the effect of Fe-spray as a correction factor for FeDC, 22 breeding lines/cultivars were planted on high-pH (8.0), calcareous (3.2–3.5 calcium carbonate equivalent), and low-Fe (1.8–4.2 ppm DTPA) sandy clay loam Tripp soils at Mitchell and Scottsbluff in western Nebraska. A split-plot design was used with Fe treatments as main plots and breeding lines/cultivars as subplots. Three foliar sprays of Fe-EDDHA (2.4 kg·ha–1) were applied at V4, R5, and R7 dry bean growth stages, during 1996 and 1997. Leaf chlorosis was measured simultaneously by using a Minolta Chroma-meter (CIE L* a* b* color space system), a Minolta Chlorophyll-meter (chlorophyll content index), and by visual ratings (1 = normal green to 5 = severe chlorosis). In 1996 no significant Fe-spray × line interaction (P = 0.776) and Fe-spray effect (P = 0.884) on seed yield was observed. Breeding lines showed significant differences in seed yield (P = 0.0001) with WM2-96-5 being the highest-yielding line (4047 kg·ha–1). In 1997 a significant Fe spray × line interaction (P = 0.029) was observed. The cultivar Chase without Fe spray (3375 kg·ha–1), and lines WM2-96-5 (3281 kg·ha–1), WM2-96-8 (3171 kg·ha–1) with Fe spray were the highest yielding entries under those treatments. Differences in visual ratings after the third Fe spray in 1997 were significant (P = 0.004) for Fe spray × line interaction. In 1996 visual ratings were different only for breeding lines. Chlorophyll content index showed a significant Fe spray × line interaction after the second Fe spray (P = 0.022) and after the third Fe spray (P = 0.0003) in 1997.


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