QUALITY OF RUSSIAN WILD RYEGRASS SEED AS INFLUENCED BY TIME AND METHOD OF HARVESTING

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Abstract
A study was conducted -with Russian wild ryegrass, Elymus junceus Fisch., to relate seed quality to stage of maturity of the seed at rime of harvest and method of harvesting. Removal of the seed from the seed culms at an immature stage (straight combining), and drying the seed immediately after, had a detrimental effect on the germinability of the seed. This effect decreased as maturity advanced until there was no appreciable germination loss 2 to 3 days before complete maturity. On the other hand, if the seed was left attached to the seed culms until dry and then threshed (swather method) the loss of seed quality attributable to reduced germination was considerably less. However, seed harvested more than 6 days before maturity by both methods had a rather low 100-kernel weight which might he reflected in lower seed yields.