Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T07:41:16.397Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Some varietal differences in factors affecting nutritive value and in recovery after cutting in Lolium multiflorum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

D. Wilman  and
C. P. E. Omaliko
D. Wilman
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
C. P. E. Omaliko
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Four varieties of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), which have been found to differ in voluntary intake by livestock at the same level of digestibility, were examined in the year of sowing and in the two subsequent years in a field experiment. Eight dates of first harvest during May–June in the years after the year of sowing were compared. During May–June in these years the proportion of leaf in the crop was closely related to the stage of development of the crop relative to heading date, whereas yield and digestibility were more closely related to calendar date. As a result the later-heading varieties, S. 22 and Sabalan, had a higher proportion of leaf than the earlier-heading varieties, RvP and Tetila Tetrone, at a given yield and digestibility and this may at least partly account for higher intake in the former varieties. In addition, in Sabalan, the proportion of green leaf relative to dead was particularly high and the proportion of cell wall particularly low. The surface area per unit dry weight of leaf blade was much higher than that of ‘stem’, which may contribute to shorter retention time in the reticulo-rumen. Surface area per unit weight of both leaf blade and ‘stem’ declined with delay in date of first harvest.

The yield of RvP relative to the other varieties was modest at the first harvest in the years after the year of sowing and high at subsequent harvests, in accord with National Institute of Agricultural Botany results. The high yield of RvP relative to the other varieties after the first harvest appeared to be associated with a relatively large number of tillers with their shoot apex below cutting height at the time of first harvest. It seemed that most of these tillers had emerged during the few weeks before that harvest. The proportion of tillers with their shoot apex below rather than above cutting height at the time of first harvest was higher in all four varieties than casual observation would suggest and the proportion remained rather high throughout May and June. The rapid rate of turnover of tillers in Italian ryegrass was confirmed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , April 1978 , pp. 401 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1978

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Davies, A. G. & Simons, R. G. (1974). Tillers. Report of Welsh Plant Breeding Station for 1973, pp. 35–6.Google Scholar
DeMarquilly, C. & Jarrige, R. (1974). The comparative nutritive value of grasses and legumes. Proceedings of the 5th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation, Uppsala, 1973. Main papers. Växtodling 28, 33–41.Google Scholar
Jones, D. I. H. & Bailey, R. W. (1974). Hydrolysis of the cell-wall carbohydrates of grasses by carbohydrases in relation to voluntary intake by sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 83, 105–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kemp, C. D. (1960). Methods of estimating the leaf area of grasses from linear measurements. Annals of Botany, N.S. 24, 491–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laredo, M. A. & Minson, D. J. (1975). The Voluntary intake and digestibility by sheep of leaf and stem fractions of Lolium perenne. Journal of the British Grassland Society 30, 73–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry or Agricuture and Fisheries (1954). The calculation of irrigation need. Technical Bulletin No., 4 p. 15 (estimation method) and table 10. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J. (1977). Predicting forage intake by laboratory methods. Proceedings XIIIth International Grassland Congress, Leipzig. (In the Press.)Google Scholar
National Institute of Agricultural Botany (1973–1974). Recommended varieties of grasses. Farmers Leaflet, no. 16. Cambridge.Google Scholar
National Institute of Agricultural Botany (1976–1977). Recommended varieties of grasses. Farmers Leaflet, no. 16. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Omaliko, C. P. E. (1976). Some varietal differences in factors affecting nutritive value and in recovery after cutting in Lolium multiflorum Lam. Ph.D. thesis, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.Google Scholar
Rudeforth, C. C. (1970). Soils of North Cardiganshire. Harpenden: Soil Survey of England and Wales.Google Scholar
Tetlow, R. M. & Wilkins, R. J. (1972). The influence of package size and density on the intake of dried grass wafers fed to lambs. Animal Production 14, 335–41.Google Scholar
Thomson, D. J. (1971). The voluntary intake of diploid (S22) and tetraploid (Tetila Tetrone) Italian ryegrass, and white clover by sheep. Journal of the British Grassland Society 26, 149–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilley, J. M. A. & Terry, R. A. (1963). A two-stage technique for the in vitro digestion of forage crops. Journal of the British Grassland Society 18, 104–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. & Wine, R. H. (1967). Use of detergents in the analysis of fibrous feeds. IV. Determination of plant cell-wall constituents. Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists 50, 50–5.Google Scholar
Walters, R. J. K. (1971). Variation in the relationship between in vitro digestibility and voluntary drymatter intake of different grass varieties. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 76, 243–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walters, R. J. K. (1974). Variation between grass species and varieties in voluntary intake. Proceedings of the 5th General Meeting of the European Grassland Federation, Uppsala, 1973. Short reports. Växtodling 29, 184–92.Google Scholar
Walters, R. J. K. & Evans, E. M. (1973). The voluntary intake characteristics of Sabalan Italian ryegrass. Report of Welsh Plant Breeding Station for 1972, pp. 55–7.Google Scholar
Walters, R. J. K. & Evans, E. M. (1975). Sabalan and Tetrone tetraploid Italian ryegrasses. Report of Welsh Plant Breeding Station for 1974, p. 48.Google Scholar
Walters, R. J. K.& Evans, E. M. (1976). Comparative feeding value of Sabalan and Sabrina. Report of Welsh Plant Breeding Station for 1975, p. 28.Google Scholar
Welsh Plant Breeding Station (1976). Report of Welsh Plant Breeding Station for 1975, p. 140.Google Scholar
Williams, R. D. (1970). Tillering in grasses cut for conservation, with special reference to perennial ryegrass. Herbage Abstracts 40, 383–8.Google Scholar
Wilman, D., Koocheki, A., Lwoga, A. B., Droushiotis, D. & Shim, J. S. (1976). The effect of interval between harvests and nitrogen application on the numbers and weights of tillers and leaves in four ryegrass varieties. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 87, 45–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilman, D., Koocheki, A., Lwoga, A. B. & Samaan, S. F. (1977). Digestion in vitro of Italian and perennial ryegrasses, red clover, white clover and lucerne. Journal of the British Grassland Society 32, 13–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar