JASP 3 -- 1985.pdf - International Herbage Seed Group

JOURNAL OF APPLIED SEED PRODUCTION, VOL. 3, 1985 3Table 2. Harvest dates and days from cutting to seed harvest.Time of closingDays fromand method of Seed harvest date cutting tocutting at closingseed harvest1981-82Uncut21 January12 November 9 February 89Cut to ground level24 November 18 February 86Cut to ground level4 December 16 March 102Cut to ground level15 December 22 March 97Cut to ground level1982-83Uncut8 February29 September 1-16 February 125-140Cut to ground levelTopped 1-16 February 125-14020 October 16-24 February 119-127Cut to ground levelTopped 1-24 February 104-12711 November 2 March 111Cut to ground levelTopped 16-24 February 97-105January. It was not possible to delay harvesting until thegreen pods were ripe, as the brown pods, which were inlarger proportion, would have shattered.Dry Matter YieldsDry matter at closing increased with the lateness of closingdates (Table 3). The maximum dry matter yield at seedharvest in 1982 was from the uncut treatment. This was threeto four times greater than the defoliated treatments whichaveraged 330 g m-2 of dry matter at harvest.Cutting to ground level on 11 November, 1982 significantlyreduced dry matter at seed harvest in 1983 comparedwith the topped treatment (Table 3). There were no significantdifferences in dry matter at seed harvest in 1983between methods of cutting at the two earlier closing dates.Stem Length at Seed HarvestIn 1981-82 cutting at closing reduced stem length at seedharvest by one half or more than the uncut treatments (Table4). Stem lengths were significantly reduced at harvest, byclosing in mid-December.In 1983 cutting at closing did not affect stem lengths atharvest except for the ground level cutting on 11 Novemberwhich was approximately 100 mm shorter in length.Seed YieldMaximum seed yields in both years were from the uncuttreatments; 47 g m-2 in 1981-82 (Table 5) and 48.8 g m-2 in1982-83 (Table 6).Seed yields in 1981-82 were significantly reduced byTable 3. Effect of closing date upon Maku lotus dry matteryields at closing, harvest and post-harvest in 1981-82.TreatmentsDry Matterg m-2Closing date Closing Harvest1981-82Uncut 113512 November 263 41624 November 406 3304 December 480 36515 December 408 208SE (mean) 55 1641982-83Uncut 104429 SeptemberGround 204 905Topped 94320 OctoberGround 288 1034Topped 99911 NovemberGround 350 806*Topped 1112SE (mean)cutting (Table 5). Plots cut in November and December1981, produced none or very little seed at all, as the very dryconditions caused the pods to shrivel and produce no harvestableseed.Later closing with cutting to ground level decreased seedyields in 1982-83 (Table 6). There was no significant differencein seed yield between closing dates when crops weresimply topped. However, crops that were topped yieldedsignificantly less seed than those that were uncut (Table 6).Table 4. Effect of closing date upon stem length at harvest.ClosingDate1981-82Uncut12 November24 November4December15 DecemberSE (mean)1982-83Uncut29 September20 October11 NovemberSE (mean)Methodof cuttingGround levelGround levelGround levelGround levelGround levelToppedGround levelToppedGround levelToppedStemlength(mm)86046042033028010371076073073073062071016.7