Impact of management practices on Italian ryegrass seed quality

Abstract

Thousand-seed weight and total germination from the first production year and two seed harvests were measured in tetraploid Italian ryegrass (cv. Tetraflorum) to study variations in seed quality. Four-year field experiments were carried out (2002-2006) in western Serbia and Italian ryegrass was established with three row spacings (20, 40 and 60 cm), four seeding rates (5, 10, 15 and 20 kg ha-1) and using four spring nitrogen rates (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1). High seed quality was obtained, except for the first experimental year (2003) and the second seed harvests which yielded the seed of unsatisfactory quality and validity. Applied factors and treatments did not change seed quality significantly unlike environmental conditions of production years which had considerable influence on seed quality.

Keywords

• inter-row spacing
• Italian ryegrass
• nitrogen application
• seeding rate
• seed quality