Publication Date
1993
Description
A. long-term grazing experiment at Lincoln University examined the yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of pure lucerne (Medicago saliva L.), luceme plus Grasslands Matua prairie grass (Bromus wildenowii Kunth.) and lucerne plus Grasslands Maru phalaris (Phalaris aqualica L.). Pure lucerne, lucerne-phalaris and lucerneprairie yielded 12.7, 11.6 and 10.4 t DM/ha/year. Production from deep soils was 16% greater than from shallow soils. Over a 6 month growth cycle from 29 Sept 88 until 16 May 89 total evapotranspiration did not vary between pasture types and mean water use was 378 mm. Water use was 10% higher on deep (398 mm) than on shallow soils (360 mm). Seasonal water use also was not affected by the different pastures; but water use peaked during January and February when about 2.7 mm was used per day. Mean water use efficiency was 25, 22 and 20 kg DM/ha mm of ET for pure lucerne, lucerne-phalaris and lucerne-prairie respectively. WUE varied between treatments only over the summer. The WUE of lucerne-prairie was 15-16 kg DM/ha/m from November-March and 20-28 during the rest of the year. In the shallow soils, prairie grass caused a significant reduction of 60% in luceme root yields in the top 20 cm soil layer. This reduction resulted in the reduced lucerne yields in the luceme-prairie grass mixtures on the shallow soils.
Citation
McKensize, B A.; Lucas, R J.; and Gyamtsho, P, "Seasonal Water Use and Productivity of Lucerne-grass Pastures" (2024). IGC Proceedings (1993-2023). 7.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1993/session7/7
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Seasonal Water Use and Productivity of Lucerne-grass Pastures
A. long-term grazing experiment at Lincoln University examined the yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of pure lucerne (Medicago saliva L.), luceme plus Grasslands Matua prairie grass (Bromus wildenowii Kunth.) and lucerne plus Grasslands Maru phalaris (Phalaris aqualica L.). Pure lucerne, lucerne-phalaris and lucerneprairie yielded 12.7, 11.6 and 10.4 t DM/ha/year. Production from deep soils was 16% greater than from shallow soils. Over a 6 month growth cycle from 29 Sept 88 until 16 May 89 total evapotranspiration did not vary between pasture types and mean water use was 378 mm. Water use was 10% higher on deep (398 mm) than on shallow soils (360 mm). Seasonal water use also was not affected by the different pastures; but water use peaked during January and February when about 2.7 mm was used per day. Mean water use efficiency was 25, 22 and 20 kg DM/ha mm of ET for pure lucerne, lucerne-phalaris and lucerne-prairie respectively. WUE varied between treatments only over the summer. The WUE of lucerne-prairie was 15-16 kg DM/ha/m from November-March and 20-28 during the rest of the year. In the shallow soils, prairie grass caused a significant reduction of 60% in luceme root yields in the top 20 cm soil layer. This reduction resulted in the reduced lucerne yields in the luceme-prairie grass mixtures on the shallow soils.
