Assessment of surface and injection fertilization on various grass hybrids in grass-clover mixture

Abstract

In a small-plot trial, grass hybrids Perseus (loloid) and Felina (festucoid) were compared in a mixture with red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) and their reactions to surface application of nitrogen fertilizers or injection into soil according to CULTAN method were investigated. Both fertilizer application methods were used with three levels of nitrogen. Mixtures containing the Felina hybrid had higher yields (12.1 t/ha) compared to the Perseus hybrid (11.0 t/ha), and they also showed higher clover abundance. Increasing dosage of nitrogen resulted in slightly higher yield, whereas the trend in clover abundance was opposite. Nitrogen injection resulted in slightly higher dry matter yields and slightly higher clover abundance as compared to surface fertilization. The N content in the grass-clover mixture was balanced for both types of fertilizer application and did not change significantly with increasing dosage of fertilizer. A slightly higher N content was observed at the Felina hybrid treatments; the dependence of this element on clover abundance in the mixture was set up to 50%.