Effect of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) grown as an intercrop on morphological traits of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) under water deficit stress.

摘要

A pot experiment, set up in an additive design, was run in order to assess the effect of Italian ryegrass on morphological traits of spring barley at different phases of its development under optimal and 50% lower soil moisture content. The following traits were measured: plant height, number of developed leaves per plant, length of ears, number of grains in an ear and length of roots. The assessment was completed during five development phases of barley (the BBCH scale): emergence (10-13), tillering (22-25), stem elongation (33-37), heading (52-55) and ripening (87-91). In 2009-2011, 3 cycles of the experiment were completed. It has been shown that Italian ryegrass did not have any significant negative effect on the morphology of spring barley's aerial organs, although it retarded the development of roots during emergence, as reflected by their length. Water supply differentiated demonstrably the rate of growth and development of crops. Its deficit restrained the growth of spring barley throughout the whole growing season. Besides, shortage of water was responsible for a smaller number of leaves and shoots on plants, shorter ears and less numerous grains in an ear. The presence of Italian ryegrass as an intercrop, in comparison with a spring barley pure stand, did not exacerbate the negative impact of water shortage on the morphological traits of this cereal.