Effect of cutting frequency of four red clover cultivars on forage yield and persistence

摘要

Red clover (Trifolium pratense L) is the most important perennial legume cultivated in Central and Northern Europe. Its lack of persistence is the main limiting factor which hampers its wider use in permanent grassland. Once the plants in the 2nd or 3rd harvest year disappear, the remaining grass sward needs more nitrogen fertilizing, over-seeding or renovation. "fhe aim of this paper was to evaluate the effect of four red clover cultivars and two cutting frequencies on dry matter (DM) yield and clover persistence in mixture with grasses. The highest DM forage yield in the 3rd harvest year and persistence index was achieved by the cultivars Astur and Amos for 3- and 4-cut management, respectively (15.7 vs 16.6 Mg ha~(-1) and 0.82 vs 0.95, respectively). "There was a significant interaction between cultivar and cutting frequency in the 3rd harvest year, when only cultivar Amos increased yield and persistence index under 4-cut management. The cultivar Amos, in comparison with other cultivars, demonstrated the best results under more frequent cutting management and should be recommended, in preference, for intensively harvested permanent grasslands and/or leys.