TECHNICAL BULLETIN 14

PRODUCTION OF FORAGE FROM CEREALS, LEGUMES AND

THEIR MIXTURES UNDER

SO'JJECT CATEGORIES , '

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

MINISTRY OF ACiRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

NICOSIA CYPRUS

PRODUCTION OF FORAGE FROM CEREALS, LEGUMES AND THEIR MIXTURES UNDER RAINFED CONDITIONS

IN CYPRUS

AUSlRACr

Dry matter (DM), total digestible nutrients (TDN) and protein yield of forage cereals (barley, wheat, oats) and legumes (common vetch, woollypod vetch, peas) and of their mixtures were compared in sevell cxpcriments carried out during the period 1967-1971. The cereals produced in pure stand on the average 109% more DM, 121'70 more TDN and 57, more protein than the legumes in pure stand. The barley variety 48 Alger proved to be the best for cultivation in mixtures with legumes. This variety was the best not only among the cereals but also among the legumes and their mixtures in DM and TDN. Lana woollypod vetch produced slightly more protein than 48 Alger. Yields of the mixtures were slightly lower than those of cereal pure stands but were significantly higher than those of the legume pure stands. Compositio~l of mixture yields was influenced by the cereal variety, the legume variety, seed rate composition, and location.

The cereal component of the yield, of mixtu~es was generally higher than expected from the composition of the mixture seed rate.

INI'RODUCTION

Under rainfed conditions forage is produced in Cyprus from cereals (barley, oats and in very rare cases wheat) and legumes (common vetch, and on a very small scale woollypod vetch and fodder peas). There has recently been a tendency to grow more cereals and legumes in pure stands and on a very small scale in mixtures for forage production in order to satisfy the needs of the expanding animal industry. Still, the area under forage cereals and legumes is very small, being only 154,000 donums' as compared to 1,090,000 donums under cereals and legumes grown for grain (Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture, Year 1968).

Investigations on forage yields of cereals, legumes and their mixtures have bee11 conducted in many countries. Donald (1963) reviewed the results obtained with 70 mixtures and reported that the yield of 11 mixtures was higher and that of 59 mixtures lower than the yield of the higher yielding component in pure culture. In addition, 65 mixtures gave higher yields, and o11ly five mixtures gave lower yields than the lower yielding component of the mixture in pure stand. The mean yield of the pure cultures was lower than that of 50 mixtures and higher than that of 20 mixtures. On the basis of this information he concluded that : (a) the yield of the mixtures will be usually less than that of the higher yielding

( ') Agricolt~tr;!l Rcsearch Officer. (') One donum = 1339 m'.

pure culture : ( b ) the yield of the mixture will be usually higher than that of its lowcr-yielding pure cult t~re ; i c ) the yield of the mixture may bc either higher or lower than the mean yield of its components in pure culture : (d) there is no sub- stantial evidence that two species can exploit the environment hetter than one.

Qualset and Granger (1970) found that a mixture of grain varieties of oats produced less than the highcst-yielding variety of the mixture in pure stand. However, the yields of the mixtures 257, + 757,, 50y0 +50y0 and 757, + 257" were slightly higher than predicted from the performance of their components. The mixture yields were more consistent than the yield of pure standc.

Robinson (1969) studied the performance of oat-vetch mixtures for forage and grain yield and found that the rnixtiires were superior to oats in pure stand as regards protein yields but did not produce greater forage or grain yields. Montemurro and Cianci (1967) reported chat oats always competed with vetch. reduced its percentage in the mixture and lowercd the quality of the forage b!' reducing the protein and increasing the fibre content.

In another study in Moldavia, USSR, Murz~na (1972) fou~ld that the yields o f spring fodder peas grown in mixture with spring barley or spring oath were lowcr than in pure &rand because each component of the mixture suppressed the growth of the other.

Papadakis (1941) compared many cereal-legume mixtures fo r grain production and foulid that the mean yleld of the mixtures was 21'7" higher than the average yield of the two crops grown separately. Papadakis concluded that the advantage of sowing a cereal-legume mixture is the stability of the mixture performance under varying environmental conditions.

Two species grown together nlay exploit their environment more effectively t h a ~ ~ a monoculture and will thereby give increased yields. Donald (1963) used the terms " dominance " and " suppression " to describe ihe mixtures in which one of the species secures an undue share of the environment. Consequently, i i ~ these mixtures the per plant yield of the agressor will be increased to the detriment of the other species. H e mentioned only one study in which mutual depression occured. In 17 out of 51 mixtures reported. the yield of one component was significantly lower than that of its respective pure cultures. In only one out of 15 cases studied. both species in the mixture yielded more than in monoci~lture.

In Cyprus, alfalfa gave higher yield and better qualiry of fodder in pure stand than in mixture with ryegrasc. (Agricultural Research Institute Annual Report for 1967).

The aim of this study was to compare certain cereal and legume varieties in pure stand o r in mixtures with regard to yield and quality of the forage produced under rainfcd conditions in Cyprus.

The experiments were carried out at four locations in the main field crop growing areas (Fig. I ) where the most common r o t a t i o ~ ~ is crreul-fallow. The soils of these locations are representative of the regions. and in general are fine textured.

The average particle-size d~strihutioll of the top one meter of soil was as follows :

Location

Prastio . . . . . . . .

Drornolaria . . . . . . Koma tou Yialou . . . .

Kondemenos . . . . . .

/ Textural class Clay Silt Coarse Fine / 1 smd 1 sand --- -- -- -

O b soil dry weight

Soil type and total aniiual rainfall aRect yields and composition of mixtures. However, the distribution of rainfall and tempcrature during the growing season play also a signiRcall1 role in determining the rate of growth and finally the yields.

An index for location potentiul independent of experimental varieties might be obtained from environmental factors such as rainfall, tcrnperature and soil ferli- lity. Our present knowledge, however, of the relationship of these factors and yield does not permit the computation of such an index (Eberllart et ul, 1966). Until we can measure such factors and formulate a mathematical relation with yield, the average yield of the varieties in a particular environment must sufice and could be used as an environmental index.

55 35.4

1967168 Experiment

0.4

6

2

4

39

56

49

This was a preliminary experiment carried out at Prastio (Mesaoria) in which Athenais harley, Palcstinc oats, Kyperou~lda wheat, Lana woollypod vetch, local common vetch and fodder peas var. No. 124 (Mrs. A. Soteriadou, Personal commu- nication)(~) were sown in pure stands and in mixtures composed of one cereal and one legume. There were 16 treatments, namely three cereal and four lcgumc pure stands and nine cereal-legumc mixtures. The variety Lana was entered twice to balance the des ia , which was 4 X 4 Balanced Lattice Square, with five replications. Plot size was ?Om% The seed and fertilizer rates were as follows :

9.2

28

8

1 3

27

34

34

Seed Fertilizer rate Crop -- I rate I 0-11-0

--- - 21-0-0

I 1 Kg per donum

I

(a) This vnricty was introduced from Turkey in 1954,

6

Cereal (barley, ,\heat, oats) . . . . Common vetch . . . . . . Fodder peas . . . . . . , , Woollypod vetch . . . . . .

. . . . Cereal-legume . . . .

20 i 9 , I . I 15

I I 7

12 10

I I

Pure stands of cereals were harvested at 50% heading, Lana at the heginiring of flowering and fodder peas and common vetch at pod formation. The mixtures with Kyperounda were harvested at 50% heading of Kyperounda, those with Athenais at milk stage of Athenais and those with Palestine oats at the end of anthesis of Palestine oats. At harvesting of their mixtures, common vetch aud fodder peas were at the end of flowering and woollypod vetch at the beginning of flowering.

1968169 Experiments In 1968169 two experime~its were sown one at Prastio and the other at

Kondemenos with the following modifications. Barley mixtures were not tested because it was observed in 1967168 that Athenais barley had passed its optimum cutting stage much ahead of the legumes ; late barley varieties were not then avail- able. The cutting stage of the mixtures was determined by the optimum cutting slage of the legume. Common vetch, fodder peas and their mixtures were harvested at pod formation and woollypod vetch and its mixtures at the beginning of flowering. The seed rate of the mixtures war 6.4 kgldonum of cereal and 9.0 kg/donum of legume.

1969170 Experiments Two new varieties, 48 Alger barlzy and Cappelli wheat were sown in pure

stands and in mixtures with legumes at two locations, Prastio and Dromolaxia. These varieties were selected on the basis of their performance in variety trials for grain yield. The barley variety 48 Alger is a suitable companion crop in mixtures with legumes because its optimum harvesting stage coincides with that of the legumes. Two seed rate combinations of mixtures were studied :

SR, : 9.0 kgldonum of cereal and 6.4 kg/donum of legume.

SR,: 6.4 kg/donum of cereal and 9.0 kg/donum of legume.

The fertilizer rates were as in 1967168 and 1968/69.

The design was a Split-plot with four replications. Seed rates occup'ed the sub-plots and varieties the main plots. The seed rate of the pure stands was the same in both sub-plots. The harvesting stages were as in the 1968169 experiments.

1970177 Experiments The mixtures of legumes with 48 Alger barley were compared with the pure

stands of cereals and legumes. The mixture seed rates were : SR, = 4 + 12, SR, = 8 + 8 and SR, = 12 + 4 kg/donum of cereal and legume, respzctively. Seed rates for pure stands were as follows : -

Crop --

SR, 1 SR2 1 SRa - 1 --

Kgldonum

Athenais and 48 Alger barley . .

Lana woollybod vetch . . . . Local common vetch . . . . . .

Fodder peas . . . . . . . . -. -

7

15

7

8

9

20

10

11

12

25

13

14

15

The experiment was carricd out at four locations (Prastio, Dromolaxia, Koma tau Yialou and Kondemenos) in a Split-plot design with four replications. The main plots were occupied by the species (pure stands or mixtures) and the three sub-plots by the seed rates. The sub-plot size was 4.8m2.

Fcrtilizer rates and harvesting stages were as in the previous year.

All the experiments were weeded by hand in January-February. At harvesting the following data were recorded : for the pure stands, fresh weight was recorded and a random sample was taken for dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre, fat and N-free extract analyses : for the mixtures the two species were separated at harvesting and their fresh weight, percent DM and chemical composition recorded separately. TDN yields were computed according to Morrison (1959) on a plot basis. The product of DM yield and percent protein content of DM formed protein yield.

Specific statistical comparisons, such as the comparison between the yield of one variety in pure stand and the yield of its mixtures or the comparison of the mean yield of cereals with the mean yield of legumes were carried out by using a t-test.

The comparison of the performance of varieties and mixtures a their optimum seed rate in the Split-plot designs was carried out by the method described by Cochran and Cox (1957).

Predicted yields (PI) of mixtures were calculated from the yields of pure stands and seed rate composition as Pr = V,S, + V,S, where V, and Vg stand for the yield of pure stand of the components of the mixture and S,, S, for the percent seed rate of mixture for the two varieties, respectively.

All statistical comparisons are given at the 5$& level of probability unless otherwise stated.

KESUl.TS

A high correlation between DM and TDN was obtained. The correlation coeficients, calculated from the mean DM yield of cach crop (pure stand or mixture) for each location and the corresponding mean TDN value, were r = 0.96** for 1969!70 (48 observations) and r = 0.99** for 1970171 (96 observations). The linear relationship between the two parameters for 1970171 is shown in Fig. 2. The regression lines for both years were statistically identical.

Conclusions drawn from TDN data would, therefore, obviously be identical to those drawn from DM data ; therefore only DM data will he discussed in detail. Protein yields will be also d'iscussed but briefly.

A. Dry nzatfer yield. The pure stands, mixtures, and seed rates studied, varied with year. The

results, however, showed several similarities and therefore data from all years will be reported together. The data of the 1968169 season are not reported because the comparisons between legumes and cereals were not valid. During this year, unusually high rainfall during the sowing period favoured abundant germination of wild oats, which could not be controlled in cereal and cereal-legume mixture plots. Legume plots, however, were hand weeded, as it was easy to separate the plants from the weeds at early growth stages. A t harvesting the wild oat popu- lation in the cereal plots ranged from 40% to 60% Thus a valid comparison between legumes, and cereals and mixtures could not be made in 1968169.

X

( K g / d o n u m ) - 7 5 0

Y = 0 . 0 0 5 + 0 . 6 2 %

r-0.99'" ( N . 9 6 )

500 -

2 5 0 -

0 2 5 0 5 0 0 7 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 5 0

D M ( K g / d o n u m l

FIG. 2 A s s o c i a t i o n b e t w e e n d r y m a t t e r ( X I and T D N (Y) y ie lds o f

f o r a g e f r o m c e r e a l s , Legumes a n d their m i x t u r e s i n 1 3 7 0 - 7 1 .

Cornpurison of cereul und legume pure stunds.

In 1967168 all cereals produced significantly more DM than legumes (Fig. 3). The mean DM yield of cereals was 469 kgjdonum and of legumes 208 kg/donum, significantly lower at the 5% level of significance. Similarly in 1969170 yields of cereals were significantly higher than yields of legumes (Table 1). Mean DM yield of cereals was 698 kgldonum, 62y0 higher than that of legume pure stands. In 1970171 on the average over all locations the DM yield of cereals was 904 kg/donum (Tables 2 and 3), 128% higher than the average yield of legumes. On average over all locations and years cereals produced twice as much dry matter than legumes did.

Comparison of mixlures with pure stands.

Total DM yield of mixtures was on average over all experiments 748 kg/ donum, significantly higher than that of legumes, 379 kgldonum, but slightly lower thad the DM yield of cereals in pure stand, 794 kg/donum. (Fig. 3 ; Tables I , 2 and 3). At no one location did legumes in pure stand yield as much as cereal- legume mixtures, whereas cereals in pure stand yielded slightly lower at some locations and slightly higher at other locations than the mixtures. The yield of

i mixtures was influenced by both the cereal variety and the legume variety, and by year (Fig. 3 ; Tables 1 and 2). In 1967168 the mixtures of Athenais barley

8, with legumes were better than similar mixtures of wheat or oats (Fig. 3). Also in 1969170 mixtures of 48 Alger barley yielded more than mixtures of Cappelli wheat at mixture seed rates 9 + 6.4 and 6.4 + 9.0 kg/donum of cereal and legume seed, respectively (Table 1).

The observed DM yields of all the mixtures were higher than predicted yields calculaled from the yields of monocultures and seed rate composition. In all the mixtures the production of cereal was higher than expected from seed rate wmpo- sition. The yield of mixtures was higher than predicted because the increase of the cereal yield was greater than the reduction in the yield of the legume. Botanical composition of mixtures appears in Fig. 4 which shows seed rate compositio~l and observed and predicted yields of 48 Alger barley + common vetch mixtures tested in 1970171.

Legume ( C o m m o n Vetch)

U ~ e r e a l ( L 8 Alger BorLey)

---Line for predicted yields

Percent seed ro te composition

FIG. L O b s e r v e d a n d predicted D M yields, and botanical

composition o f c e r e a l a n d Legume mixtures g r o w n i n 1970-71.

Dry Atutfrr Yield in kgjdonum of Forage frorrr Pure Srunds a~qd Mixircres in 1969/70.

I SKI of mixtures I SRI of mixtures

Crop

--

4 b .\lsrr hsrlcy . .

- Seed rate

Lg/don

825nbc

531d

485ri

636cd

926ab

930ab

923ah

796abc

703bcrl

655cd

613cd

a - sriu!o)

509s

2%

272a

398a

549%

6.4461a

- -

Cappclli nbcat . 120.5

Drorno- I~sin(b)

C.Y. . .

I.ama(c) . . .

X'ercl~(d) . .

Pu.#~(E) . , . .

.IS .Algcr f L a n ; ~ . .

48 .A lge r ;~v~ tch . .

48 Jlpcl- :weas . .

48 .Aliieri-r.ctcl1 . C:tpclli - L a n a i . . Cappelliivctrii . .

C;lppclll f peas . . )

~ - .- - --

970.1

32x1 18.9 1 24.1 , 29.0 22.3 26.1 I

20.5

.IU.3

. . 11 .5

12.8

9.0--6,4605s

9.0--6.45564

9.0-6.4

9.0~1-6.4499n

9.0-6.4422a

9.0'

90-6.4485a

Stib-plot size : 10m' ( 0 ) Prccipira~ioi~ 240 mm (b) 313 mrn (c) !-ariet) of wooliypod velch

(dl conlmon vetch, variety ' local' (cl loddcr peas

These mixturss at SR, (355, cereal + 75C/, legume) produced 740 kg DM pel- dom~m of which 540 ks (715;) was ccrenl and 300 kg (27%) was legume. VM yield of 48 Alger rno~loculture was 972 kgldonutu and of common vetch monoculture 430 kgido~lum. In ihe 25Yc + 755; lnixture the predicted yield of cereal would be 243 k: (972 X 0.25) and of legume 322 kg (430X 0.75) and total predicted yield 1 7 s the mixturc 555 k_r:durium. T h e comparison of observed and predicted yields ahows that thc total ohsel.ved yield of the mixture was 175 kz higher that1 prc:licled and tha t tho increase in the production of the cereal wmpo- nent was also 175 ks ycater than the reduction in production of the legume conlponetit of rhe n~ixtures.

514a

TABLE 2

Dry Matter Yield in kg:ilonurn oJ Cerenls, Legumes and

Cereal-Legunie M~,ttures ut Oplinlum Seed Rote (1970171).

Crop

Athenais barley

48 l g e r barley

I>aaa (a) . .

Vetch (b) . .

Peas (c) . .

48 Alger +l ,nni t

48 Alger+vetch

48 A l p r + p e a

Drornolaxia Pastio I I

(a) variety of woollypod vetch (h) common vetch variety ' local ' (b) fodder pear

Composition of misture yields.

The composition of the DM yield of the mixtures varied with cereal and legume variety. seed rate composition and location. In gencral the contribution of the cereal was higher than expected from the seed rate composition. The DM yield of the 1967168 mixturcs (Fig. 3) was composed of 84% to 99V0 cereal, a higher proportion than expected from seed rate composition (58% cereal). The influence of the cereal or legume variety on the composition of mixtures is shown also in Fig. 3. For cxample the mixtures of wheat with fodder peas, common vetch and woollypod vetch were composed of 847'. 897' and 95% cereal, respectively. The yield of mixtures of fodder peas with barley was composed of 98% cereal, with wheat 84% cereal and with oats 947, cereal. Similar fi_eu~-es were obtained in the 1969170 and 1970171 trials.

Seed rate cumposition affected the botanical composition of all mixtures tested. The higher the percentage of cereal or legume in the seed rate, the higher their representation in the mixture DM yield, but the cereal dominated in all cases.

The composition of yield of ~nixtilres was sreatly ilifluenced by location. In 1969170 the cereal contributed 82% at Prastio and 687, a t Dromolaxia of thc yield of the mixtures grown. Similarly in 1970171 the cereal component was 974:, at Kondemenos and Prastio. 73% at Dromolaxia and 70YC at Koma tou Yialou.

Cereal varieties in pure stand. Of the five cereal varieties lested, barley varieties yielded more than wheat

or oat varieties (Fig. 3, Tahle I ) . The barley variety 48 Alser was the hishest

Koma IOU

Yialou

516b

661 a

410 bc

449 bc

126 d

478 h

462 bc

359c

Konde- rnenos

--

1218a

1351 a

470 b

514 b

356 b

1274 a

I326 a

1260 a

Over nil locnt8ons

Yield

836 nb

972 a

476 c

430 cd

272 d

907 nb

866 sb

--- Optimnm ~ c c d tratc

kgldonum --

25

20

13

14

I 5

12+4

802 h 12+4

yielding variety (Table 2) and it was also superior to all varieties except lana vetch as regards protein content. This variety is also late and combines well with the commercial varieties of common vetch, fodder peas and lana woollypod vetch in mixtures.

TABLE 3

Mean Yields of DM, T D N and Protein in kgldonum of Cereal and L.egume Purr Stands, and their Mixt~ires during the Period 1967-1971.

(a) Dry Mutter yield

1967168 1969170 1970171

Crop Droma-

Means of mixtures

stands Mean of cereal pure

. . 469 504 894

Mean oflegume pure stands . . . . 208 301 559

(6) T D N yield

(c) Protein yield

Mean of mixtures..

Mean of cereal pure stands . . . .

Mean of legume pure stands . .

Legume varieties in pure stand.

479

613

352

The differences in DM yield between legume varieties were small. Lana woolly- pod vetch produced 419 kg DMIdonum, 27 kg more than the 'local ' variety of common vetch and 75 kg more than fodder peas. The protein yield of woollypod vetch was 111 kg/donum, 21 kg higher than that of common vetch and 41 kg higher than fodder peas.

315

288

97

Mean of mixtures

Mean of cereal pure stands . .

Mean of legume pure stands . .

757

742

239

299

352

200

77

73

114

56

63

42

387

401

251

161

144

91

65

70

67

268

368

196

81

58

8 1

798

796

272

66

49

77

472

509

230

143

155

106

93

87

83

Seed rare3 of cereul and legume pure .stands

Athena~s barley sown at 25 kg/donum (SR,) produced more DM than at lower seed rates at all four locations, Prastio, Dromolaxia, Koma tou Yialou and Kondemenos (Table 4).

As regards 48 Alger barley, there was significant diference in DM yield of seed rates in some locations but ~ i o t in others. On the average, no significant ditEere~ice. was obtained in DM yizld of 48 hlger badey sown at 15,20 or 25 kgldonum. A significant Locatio!i X Seed rate interaction was found in the case of the legume varieties, too. On the average, the best seed rates for lana vetch were 10 and 13 kgldonum, rrf lncal common vetch 1 l and 14 kg:donum and of fodder peas 12 and 15 kgldonum. In general, higher dry matter yields were obtained at higher seed rates.

TABLE 4

Dry Mutter Yield in kp/clonrrrn o f Foruge Cereals and

Legunzes Tested at Three S e ~ d Rotr.\fu) in 1970/71.

Location 1 Seed Athanilis 48 Alger / Lsnn Common Fodder rate barley barlry vetch vetch peas -- I SR-1 485ab 643 a 1 353 b I 303. I-m-

Prastio . . SRz 1 951 a 1206 b

1328 a --

SR1 380 b 609 a

!coma to" Yialou . . SR2 421 h 661 s 1

locations I I SR, 1 836a ( 930a 1 477 a ! 430 s / 273 a

Kondemenor . .

Mean of

-

(a) The seed raros SR,. SR. and SR., of 48 Alger and Athenais barley were 15. 20 and 25 kg/donum. rhosc of Lana woollypod vetch 7.10 and 13 kgidonum, those of common vetch 8.1 1, and 14 kg ,donnm and thosc or roddcr peas 9.12 and IS kg/donum.

SR, 1175 h

SRp 121Ra

all I SRI 750 b

1322b

1351 a

945 a

972 a

458 b

470 a

378 b

430a 401 s 250 ab

490 h

514a

315 b

321 b

356 a

210 b

Protei~l content varied with location and year. The dry matter of cereals contained 10-127, and of legumes 20--25y0 protei~i. The protein content of Cappelli wheat and lalia woollypod vetch were the highest among cereals and legumcs, respectively.

Protein yield was influenced by both DM yield and percent protein content. Although percent protein content of cereals was about 50% of that of legumcs. protein yicld of cereals was higher as a result of higher dry matter yields. The mean protein yicld of cereals over all seven experiments was 87 kg/donum and of legumes 83 kgldonum (Table 3). Mixtures produced slightly more protein. 93 kg;donum.

In the presetit experiments cereals, particularly barley, proved to be the most successful crop either in monoculture or in mixture with legumes. Cereals in pure stand produced on the average 109% more DM, 121% more TDN and 57, more protein than lcgumes in pure stand.

Cereals outyielded legumes at all locations but the diKerence in yield between legumes and cereals varied with location and year. From the data of Table 3 it was calculated that cereals outyieldcd legumes by the following percentages : 125% in 1967168 (Prastio), 677, in 1969/70 (Prastio), 607, in 1969;70 (Dromo- laxia) ; in 1970171 by 195% at Prastio, 57% at Dromolaxia, 80% at Koma tou Yialou and 187% a1 Kondemenos. The yield of legumes remained more or less low at all locations, whereas that of cereals increased considerably at the high yielding locations. This indicates that cereals, in addition to being drought tolerant and more productive than legumes in the low yielding locatiolis they also have the polential to exploit iavourable cnvironmental conditions better than legumes and thereby produce higher yields. As environmental conditions, mainly rainfall distribution, vary with location and year in an unpredictable mantier cereals are a more dependable crop than legumcs.

Legumes have a higher protein content than cereals. However, because of their higher yields cereals produced slightly more protcin than legumes did (Table 3). Furthermore, in making hay, losses are generally lower with cereals than with legumes. Consequently the superiority of cereals will be even more pronounced.

Legumes, although yielding colisiderably less DM and TDN than cereals, and slightly less protein per donum are nevertheless more palatable than cereals. However, when high quantities of DM and TDN are needed, ccreals in pure stand are to be preferrcd.

Most mixtures yielded slightly less than their cereal component in pure stand and significantly more than their legume component' in pure stand. 011 the other hand DM, TDN and protein yields of mixtures were higher than the mean of their cereal and legume components in pure stand, obviously due to the high yield of the cercai in the mixture (Table 3).

Composition of mixtures was influenced by variety, location. and seed rate composition. The variety effect was less significant than the effect of seed rate and environment, particularly with regard to the composition of mixture yields. Seed rates must. therefore, be adjusted to suit the environmental conditions. Generally, relatively more legume seed must be sown in mixtures grown a t high yieldin? locations than at low yie ldin locations. Cereal seed in the mixtures must t<ot be higher than SOYG in i rde r 6 product a balanced mixture, even though total yield will be reduced.

As repeatedly pointed out, in all thc mixtures the ccreal yielded more and the lcgume less than expected from seed ratc composition and yield of the respective monocultures. Cereals grew faster than legumes during the period December to early March, particularly when moisture conditions werc favourable. The growth of legumes was very slow in winter because of low temperatures while cereals produced tillers and stems and covered the small legume seedlings. In plots in which the growth of cereals was particularly vigorous the legumes gradually died and hnally conlributed as low as IY0 il l the mixture yield. The agressiveness of cei-eals is. therefore, the reason why most of the mixtures in these studies were not balanced.

I . Cereals in pure stand produced on average 1097, more DM. 121% more TDN and 5Yc more protetn yield than legumes in pure stand.

2. The barley variety 48 Alger is the most suitable cereal to be growl? in mixture with legumes because its optimum harvesting date coincides with that of

Wumes. l e,

3. The barley variety 48 Alger slightly outyielded the locally grown variety .4thenais ill DM, TDN atid protein yield.

4. The yields of mixtures were slightly lower than those of cereals in pure stands hut were significantly higher than those of legumes in pure stands.

5 . The mixture yields (DM. TDN a ~ i d protein) were mainly composzd of cereal. Legume yielda in mixtures were lower than expected froin seed rate composition and the yield of pure stands.

6. Yield composition of mixtures was influenced by (a) seed rate composition, ( h ) variety ( I g u m e and cereal) and (c) envirotlmental conditions.

7. The prevailing environmental conditions in general favoured the growth of cereal in the mixtures. The legumes werc suppressed, particularly a t the stem enlongation stage of cereals.

1 wish to acknowledge the active participation of Dr. S. Economides and Mr. D. Droushiotis in carrying out the experimctits. Thanks are also due to the staff of the Central Chemistry Laboratory of the Institute for carrying out the chemical an;llyses. The technical assistance of Mr. Chr. Kyriakou is also acknowledged.

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