EFFECT oF SEEDING RATIO, SOWING METHOD AND NITROGEN LEVEL ON THE GROWTH OF RHODES GRASS (Caloris gayana cv Callide)/ GTYLO (Stylosanthes guianensis cv Cook) MIXTURE IN NOTHERN NIGERIA

EFFECT oF SEEDING RATIO, SOWING METHOD AND NITROGEN LEVEL ON THE GROWTH OF RHODES GRASS (Caloris gayana cv Callide)/ GTYLO (Stylosanthes guianensis cv Cook) MIXTURE IN NOTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract:

The effect of seven grass/legume seeding ratios (10:0, 7:3, 6:4, 5:5, 4:6, 3:7 and 0:10), three sowing methods (i) grass and legume drilled in alternate rows, 30cm apart (ii) grass and legume mixed and broadcast (iii) grass and legume mixed and drilled within the same rows, 30 cm apart) and three arates of nitrogen application (0, 100 and 200 kg N/ha) on the growth of Rhodes grass (Chloris qayana cv Callide)/Stylo (Stylosanthes quianensis cv Cook) swards was studied in two experiments between 1979 and 1980 at Shika, in the Northern Guinea Savanna Zone of Nigeria. In experiment I, the grass:legume seeding ratio used strongly influenced dry matter yield of the grass and legume components. The grass dry matter yield for the grass:legume seeding ratio 3:7 to 10:0 (pure grass sward) varied from 3.46t to 4.35t/ha in 1979 and 5.40t to 7.16t/ha in 1980, For the legume component, the seeding ratio of 7:3 to 0:10 (pure legume sward) produced 0.81t to 4.25t/ha in 1979 compared with 1.50t to 4.24t/ha in 1980. The mixed sward was clearly more productive than the sole grass or legume sward. Broadcast seeding resulted in higher dry matter yields than drilling. Over the two-year period, the highest mean dry matter yield of 7.4t/ha was obtained from the seeding ratio 3:7/broadcast seed combination. Crude protein (CP) contents of the grass were higher while those of the legume were slightly lower in 1980, Whereas percentage CP increased as the proportion of legume seeded increased, sowing method did not exert any influence. The data suggested that nitrogen from the legume might have been utilized by the associated grass. Nitrogen fertilization of a grass/legume sward increased total and grass but markedly reduced legume dry matter yields in experiment II, Application of nitrogen in July gave the highest and application in September the lowest yield with the sward growth uninterrupted. However, for the cut sward, nitrogen applied immediately after harvesting in August resulted in the highest dry matter yield. Herbage crude protein content increased with rise in nitrogen level and fell with deferment of cutting. The need to further investigate the effect of different seeding ratios on the performance of the more promising and compatible native/introduced grasses and legumes was suggested.

EFFECT oF SEEDING RATIO, SOWING METHOD AND NITROGEN LEVEL ON THE GROWTH OF RHODES GRASS (Caloris gayana cv Callide)/ GTYLO (Stylosanthes guianensis cv Cook) MIXTURE IN NOTHERN NIGERIA

Sharing is caring!