Journal
PLANT AND SOIL
Volume 342, Issue 1-2, Pages 379-391Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11104-010-0703-9
Keywords
Trifolium alexandrinum; Lolium multiflorum; Mediterranean environment; Cutting frequency; Plant arrangement; LER; NLER
Categories
Funding
- project 'Patti Territoriali Magazzolo-Platani'
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In Mediterranean countries, forage grasses and legumes are commonly grown in mixture because of their ability to increase herbage yield and quality compared with monocrop systems. However, the benefits of intercropping over a monocrop system are not always realized because the efficiency of a grass-legume mixture is strongly affected by agronomic factors. The present study evaluated productivity, N-2 fixation, N transfer, and N recovery of berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum) grown in pure stand and in mixture with annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) under high or low defoliation frequencies and varying plant arrangements (sowing in the same row or in alternating rows). On average, the berseem-ryegrass mixtures resulted in a greater yield and N yield than the monocrops. When mixed together, ryegrass was more efficient than berseem at absorbing soil N, increasing the reliance of berseem on N-2 fixation. Both defoliation management and plant arrangement affected forage yield and the quality of the mixture, modifying the proportion of the two components, the N content of the forage, and the symbiotic N-2 fixation of the legume. Reducing the proximity between plants of the two species may benefit the weaker component of the mixture. No apparent transfer of fixed N from berseem to ryegrass was detected.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available