EFFECTS OF VEGETATION DECOMPOSITION AND CARBOFURAN ON ESTABLISHMENT AND YIELD OF SOD-SEEDED ALFALFA

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The effect of varying degrees of sward decomposition and carbofuran at 1.1 kg a.i./ha on establishment and yield of sod-seeded alfalfa (Medicago sativa L. ’Iroquois’) was assessed at Ithaca, N.Y. during 1980 on four sites differing in botanical composition and canopy architecture. Differential decomposition was achieved by applying the herbicide glyphosate (2.2 kg a.i./ha) at three sequential times before a late May seeding. The influence of lime and charcoal on alfalfa establishment was also evaluated. Seedling numbers generally increased with progressively earlier killing of vegetation, though the pattern differed at each site. Seedling numbers were lowest on the quackgrass sod and highest on the haysod sites. Carbofuran application increased seedling numbers, particularly at the latest glyphosate application time. Lime and charcoal had little effect. The influence of decomposition time was not transient since treatment differences up to 1 yr after planting were still apparent. The data presented suggest that allelopathic factors and to a lesser extent arthropod activity limit seedling numbers and the early growth of sod-seeded alfalfa.Key words: Decomposition, carbofuran, sod-seeding, alfalfa

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: