Improvement of grassland productivity in the semi-arid zone of Greece by introducing woody and herbaceous species

摘要

In the grasslands of the semi-arid zone of Greece, herbaceous vegetation dries out early in the summer, resulting in a lower quality and quantity of forage. The introduction of woody and valuable herbaceous species in a degraded grassland of the semi-arid zone is expected to fill the feed gaps of grazing animals for the winter and the summer period. Two consecutive trials were conducted at the Scholari village, north-east of Thessaloniki, Greece, in an area of 1.7 ha. In the four years of trial, thewoody fodder species introduced in the grassland were Robiniapseudoacacia, Gleditsia triacanthos, Amorpha fruticosa and Morus alba in three different spacings (1.5 x 1.5m, 2.5 x 2.5 m and 3.5 x 3.5 m). Among the species, Robinia pseudoacacia yielded thehighest forage production (394 kg/ha). The spacing of 1.5 x 1.5m had the highest forage production per unit area (280 kg/ha) while the spacing of 3.5 x 3.5m had the highest forage production per plant (91.8 g/plant). The species tested in the two years of trial were Robinia and Morus, since they were both productive, yielding high quality forage. Half of the plots planted with the woody species were ploughed and seeded, while the other half remained undisturbed. Dactylis glomerata was seeded into the Robinia plot, while Trifolium subterraneum was seeded into the Morus plot. Robinia had the highest forage production (98.9 kg/ha) and Trifolium the highest herbage production (150.7 kg/ha) respectively.