ArticleFestulolium
(
×
Festulolium
F. Aschers. et Graebn.) is a new perennial grass
Роасеае
family. The benefits of this culture are good regrow capacity, increased sugars content and higher
winter hardiness. It can be used as a green feed when c
reating cultivated hayfields and pastures.
Widespread application of this new culture for forage production is constrained by the shortage
of seeds, due to the imperfection of their production technologies. There are still very few of
studies on the biolog
y and technology of
Festulolium
cultivation in the forest
-
steppe of the
Central Chernozem Region of Russia (CCR). The experiments involved the VIC
-
90
Festulolium
variety with the first crop being the vetch
-
oat mixture harvested for green fodder. The soil in the
experimental plots was leached medium thick medium loamy chernozem. The humus content in
the arable horizon was 4.56%, pH was 4.9, degree of base saturatio
n was 74‒86%, P
2
O
5
content
was 129
mg
kg
-
1
, K
2
O content was 115
mg
kg
-
1
(according to Chirikov) and the hydrothermal
index was 1.13. The experiment included the following variants: no fertilizer application (control)
and application of mineral fertilizers
(ammonium nitrate and ammonium nitrate phosphate
fertilizer) at different doses. Soil preparation was conventional for seed swards of perennial
grasses in the CCR.
Festulolium
was sown in broad drills by coverless sowing to the depth of
0.5
–
1.0
cm
at the s
eeding rate of 6.0
kg
ha
-
1
. Experiments, records, observations and
determination of economic and bioenergetic efficiency were carried out according to
conventional procedures. It was found that the climatic conditions in the forest steppe of the CCR
were f
avorable for
Festulolium
seed cultivation. Application of mineral nitrogen fertilizers in
autumn at a dose of 60
kg
ha
-
1
of active ingredient (AI) ensures the formation of high yielding
erect seed
-
producing sward, and can increase harvest energy efficiency
an average by 1.45‒1.82
times and obtain 591‒620
kg
ha
-
1
of certified seeds. The greatest profitability of production
(179%) and the highest notional farm net income (RUB 43,000 per hectare) are provided by a
single application of ammonium nitrate fertili
zer at a dose of 60
kg
ha
-
1
of active ingredient in
autumn (after vegetative mass topping)
