Improvement of yield and botanical composition in meadows: effects of N fertilisation, irrigation on locations having different water table levels
2009
Comakli, Binali | Haliloglu, Kamil | Dasci, Mahmut | Mentese, Omer
Meadows dominated by native herbaceous species and having a high water table are an important source of feed for livestock in semi-arid regions of Turkey. This research investigated the effects of nitrogen fertilisation (ammonium sulfate) on two meadows having different water table levels and different soils. Dry matter production was 8868kgha⁻¹ at location 1 and 7276kgha⁻¹ at location 2. The application of 225kgNha⁻¹ increased the crude protein content of the forage from 7.1 to 10.8%. A level of 150kgha⁻¹ (CP 9.6%) is recommended as a result of this study. Crude protein yield increased from 303 to 1113kgha⁻¹ with the highest rate of nitrogen application. The percentage of grasses in the forage averaged 92.5% and the weeds averaged 7.5%. Increasing nitrogen fertilisation resulted in an increase in the grass percentage and a decrease in the proportion of weeds. The differences in water table depth between location 1 and location 2 were not consistent between the years, and these differences influenced the irrigation applications which were applied according to soil moisture criteria.
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