Seed productivity of hybrid blue lucerne in the forest steppe zone of Novosibirsk province.

摘要

Seed production was investigated in hybrid blue lucerne [?Medicago varia] cv. Omskaya 8893 in trials in the forest steppe zone of western Siberia, on a leached chernozem soil of pH 5.3 and 3-4% humus content, during the period 1966-99. Seeds were sown in July at rates of 2, 4 or 6 million seeds/ha following treatment with rizotorfin (a peat-based rhizobial preparation derived from lucerne nodules) or a complex of micronutrients or a combination of both. Data were recorded on density of stems/m2, plant height prior to harvesting and seed yield. The economic efficiency of seed production was calculated for each treatment. Highest seed yields were obtained at the lowest sowing rate combined with seed treatment prior to sowing with both rizotorfin and microelements; this gave an average yield of 296 kg/ha, compared to 50 kg/ha for the untreated control at the same sowing rate. Despite the cost of seed treatment, the economic result was a lowering of unit production costs and a large increase in profitability (4 times greater than in the control).