engleski

Productivity and sward composition of semi-natural pasture under different N fertilizing regimes

The mountain pastures in Croatia often remain unfertilized or poorly fertilized and produce low quantities of poor quality forage. The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in the botanical composition and productivity of semi-natural mountain pasture, rotationally grazed by sheep, under different rates of N application (35, 100 and 150 kg N ha-1 yr-1). Significant differences between years occurred in all the investigated parameters. The dry matter (DM) yield in the second year (4, 805.7 kg ha-1) was significantly lower compared with the DM yield in the first and the third year (8, 721.2 and 9, 210.6 kg ha-1, respectively). In the second year, the annual content of grass, legumes and dead plant material in total DM yield decreased (P<0.01), while the content of broadleaf plants increased more than 65 % in comparison with the first year. The N fertilizer did not cause significant differences in DM yield and botanical composition among treatments within each of the three years. This indicates that low input management does not necessary result in sward productivity losses.

nitrogen; yield; sward composition

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