Establishment of Zoysia pasture in abandoned agricultural lands
2009
Otani, I.(National Agricultural Research Center for Western Region, Fukuyama, Hiroshima (Japan))
Recently, abandoned agricultural lands, particularly terraced paddy fields and forests, have increased in extent in the hilly and mountainous areas of Japan. These abandoned lands can be used without intensive management when they are used as grazing pasture. Japanese lawngrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.), a common species in native Japanese pastures, is known to be useful in this application because it persists without intensive management and alleviates soil erosion by stabilizing soils with its stolons, which densely cover the soil surface. This study was intended to clarify the methods for converting abandoned agricultural lands into Zoysia pasture to support cattle grazing and facilitate improved land use and conversion. The results obtained can be summarized as follows: 1. The influences of groundwater level, shading, and slope aspects on Z. japonica growth were examined. Growth of Z. japonica was more seriously inhibited in the treatment with a 3-cm groundwater level than in the 20-cm treatment. The growth differences among lines were not significant. Under severe shade (26% relative solar radiation), growth was more seriously inhibited than under weak shade (37.2%) and short-day treatments. Growth differences among the lines were recognized in both the weak shade and short-day treatments. The growth of Z. japonica was greater on a gentle slope (15deg) than on a steep slope (27deg), and was greater on a south-facing slope than on an east- or west-facing slope. On slopes, the stolons of Z. japonica were more numerous growing downward than growing upward.
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