Seedling establishment, overwintering ability and dry matter production of Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L.) in natural reseeding practices.

摘要

Seedling establishment, overwintering ability and dry matter production of Chinese milk vetch (Astragalus sinicus L. CMV) in natural reseeding practice were compared with the annual seedling in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. In natural reseeding, CMV seeds were distributed up to 15 cm soil depth in autumn after rice harvest and the seeds generally emerged from soil at less than 5 cm depth while they all emerged from soil surface in the annual seeding. It took 7-8 d longer in seedling establishment of the natural reseeding practice than the annual seeding. Generally, the natural reseeding practice showed higher seedling stand than the annual seeding because of high seedling survival rate. The high seedling survival rate in natural reseeded plant was attributed to the longer root length than that of the annual-seeded plant. In annual seeding, most of the seeds emerged from the soil surface and the root can not easily penetrate the soil while, in natural reseeding technology, the seeds incorporated into the soil during land preparation emerged from the soil at 0 to 5 cm depths, thereby having longer root length. The long root length contributed to greater ability to survive even under low temperature and low soil moisture conditions during winter. The dry matter production in the natural reseeding practice was also higher than the annual seeding when the temperature is low and soil moisture is not sufficient. This result indicates that natural reseeding technology is more stable and beneficial in seedling establishment and dry matter production as compared with the annual seeding especially under unfavorable environmental condition for CMV growth. This practice could be encouraged in CMV-rice cropping system in the southern parts of Korea.