Botha, Philip R.

Meeske, Robin

Snyman, Hennie A.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress The Evaluation of Two Cultivation Methods to Over‐Sow Perennial Clovers into Kikuyu Philip R. Botha Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa Robin Meeske Western Cape Department of Agriculture, South Africa Hennie A. Snyman University of the Free State, South Africa Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/9-2/23 The 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. 瞯 ]90　 瞯 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems——— Livestock Production SystemsThe evaluation of two cultivation methods to over‐sow perennial clovers into kikuyu .P .R .Botha1 ,R .Meeske1 and H .A .Snyman21 Department o f A griculture Western Cape ,Outeniqua Research Farm ,P .O .Box 249 ,George ,6530 ,South A f rica .2 Department o f A nimal ,W ildli f e and Grassland Sciences ,University o f the Free State ,P .O .Box 339 ,Bloem f ontein ,9300 ,South A f rica .E‐mail : philipb＠ elsenburg .comKey words :white clover ,red clover ,over‐sow ,mulcher methods ,rotavator methodsIntroduction The aim of the study was to evaluate two over‐sowing practises in terms of seasonal dry matter yield ,when kikuyuis over‐sown with a mixture of perennial white ( T ri f olium repens ) and red ( T .p ratense ) clovers .Perennial white clover ( T .repens cv ,s Haifa or Dusi ) or red clovers ( T .p ratense cv摧s Cherokee or Kenland ) were over‐sown at ５ kg ha‐１ and ６ kgha‐１ ,r espectively ,into existing irrigated kikuyu pasture using two methods . Each of the methods consisted of differentcombinations of three implements .They were a mulcher (１ ,６ meter Nobili with ３２ blades) ,a rotavator (１ .５５ meter Celli with３６ blades) ,and Cambridge land roller used during May to prepare seedbeds .Fertiliser was applied to raise the phosphorus levelto ３５ mg kg‐１ ,potash level to ８０ mg kg‐１ ,and the pH ( KCL ) to ５ .５ .No nitrogen was applied .Dry matter ( DM ) production ,grow th rate and the botanical composition were determined .The clover content of the pasture ranged from ５ .２％ to ２０ .７％ withthe mulcher method compared to １５％ to ６０％ with the rotavator method .Table 1 The in f luence o f the mulcher and rotavator methods on the total seasonal dry matter p roduction ( kg DM ha‐1 ) o fkikuyu over‐sown w ith perennial white and red clover .Year Season Mulcher Rotavator 倡LSD1 R倡倡LSD2Year １ 槝SpringSummerAutumnWinter３１８９cde２８２４ef５０３１a１３４９j４８３５a３５２７bcd３５６７b１３２５j４２３ 趑.６ ４５９ C.１Year ２ 槝SpringSummerAutumnWinter２２９９gh２８６５ef３７３１b１９７１hi２２４９gh２５２３fg３１２６ed１７４０ij３７９ C.０abcde Means with no common superscript differ significantly ( P ＜ ０ .０５ )倡 LSD１ : compare over years倡倡 LSD２ : compare within yearsResults and discussion The influence of the mulcher and rotavator methods on the total seasonal DM production ( kg DM ha‐１ ) ofkikuyu over‐sown with perennial white and red clover is shown in Table １ .The DM production of the clover over‐sown with therotavator method was the highest during spring and summer of year １ .This is an indication that clovers established well duringthe winter and increased the DM production during spring and summer . The lower grass content of the rotavator method duringthe autumn of year １ resulted in a lower DM production .During summer and autumn of year １ and ２ ,the DM production of themulcher method was typical of kikuyu as indicated by the high autumn production . The rotavator method is a better method toestablish perennial white and red clover into kikuyu than the mulcher method .By using the rotavator method the clover contentof kikuyu‐clover pasture can be higher for two years than those established by the mulcher method .The results indicated that inspite of the high clover content of the rotavator method ,the DM production of the rotavator method is comparable to the DMproduction of the mainly grass pasture of the mulcher method .

The Evaluation of Two Cultivation Methods to Over‐Sow Perennial Clovers into Kikuyu

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The Evaluation of Two Cultivation Methods to Over‐Sow Perennial Clovers into Kikuyu

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