AGRONOMIJAS VĒSTIS - Latvijas Lauksaimniecības universitāte

AGRONOMIJAS VĒSTIS (Latvian Journal of Agronomy), No.10, LLU, 2008Consequently, fodder galega harvesting should not be hastened and one can adjust to theweather conditions. In drier weather one can use swath harvesting, while in wetter years one shoulduse direct harvesting with prior defoliation of the crop. Seed germination when the crop washarvested at the earliest dates only in 1996 did not meet the standard (80%). Galega seed qualityindicators averaged over four years are presented in Table 3. Even when the seed had beenharvested at the earliest date, its germination was 86 %. When thrashing later, seed germinationinsignificantly increased. The highest germination was achieved when 90 % of pods had ripened,when 66 days had elapsed from the start of flowering. Harvesting method and delay of harvestingdid not have any significant effect on seed germination. The lowest 1000 seed weight was recordedwhen the seed was harvested at the stage when 60 % of pods had matured. With delayed harvestingafter complete maturity the seed weight consistently declined. The highest moisture content ofthrashed seed and chaff was identified when galega had been thrashed direct without desiccation.The moisture content of pure seed was low 11.1-14.7 % in all treatments.Table 3. Fodder galega seed quality, harvested by different methods (mean of 1996-1999)Method ofharvestingSum of days fromstart of floweringMoistureseed and chaffMoisturepure seed,Weight of1000 seed,Germination,%to harvesting after harvesting %gSwath 53 25.2 12.8 6.82 86Swath 60 23.4 13.7 7.02 90Direct 60 31.8 14.7 7.00 86Swath 66 22.2 11.1 7.09 87Direct 66 23.5 11.2 7.21 92Direct× 66 38.4 13.4 7.04 86Swatha 80 27.4 10.7 6.92 90Directa 80 33.4 11.5 6.94 88Directa× 80 43.4 11.7 6.98 90LSD 0.05 9.1 2.9 0.22 8a - harvesting 14 days after last term× -direct harvesting without defoliationIn 1999 germination of the seed that was placed for a seven-year storage period amountedto 92-98% (Table 4).Table4. Variation of fodder galega seed germination harvested in 1999 and stored in a heated(ht) and in an unheated (un) storage over seven years, %Method of MaturedGermination, %harvesting pods, 1999 2001 2002 2004 2005 2006%ht un ht un ht un ht un ht unSwath 60±5 95 84 86 91 49 82 22 74 22 46 11Swath 80±5 96 89 81 90 62 86 29 70 21 52 12Direct 80±5 95 86 85 84 60 84 19 83 20 58 16Swath 90±5 98 88 83 91 64 87 33 78 36 76 18Direct 90±5 95 89 84 91 59 86 40 80 29 61 17Direct× 90±5 97 91 86 92 64 85 37 82 22 57 21Swatha 95 93 89 89 55 85 31 79 24 50 20Directa 92 91 82 82 53 89 23 84 21 38 11Directa× 95 89 87 87 59 86 22 82 24 49 13For trial3 8 7 5 5 7LSD 0.053 2 2 2 2Mean 95 89 85 89 58 79 32 79 24 54 15For storage3LSD 0.05a - harvesting 14 days after last term.× - direct harvesting without defolation173